


Steve Roger's ABCs of AgePlay

by Lost_In_Time_x



Series: Little Steps [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Age Play, Age Regression/De-Aging, Ambiguous Relationships, Angst, Blood, Crying, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Infantilism, M/M, Nightmares, Non-Sexual Age Play, OT6?Possibly, Poor Loki, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Esteem Issues, little Steve, poor steve
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-03-09 08:20:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3242786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lost_In_Time_x/pseuds/Lost_In_Time_x
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve Rogers was the 'Man with the Plan'. He was also the man with a huge 'adoptive' family that love him very much.</p><p>Any requests for cute little scenarios then drop me a line and I’ll try to do your vision justice; (No sex please, I’m British) ;) x</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A is for Ambulance

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure if I’m going to do 26 for each character e.g. ‘Steve’s ABCs’ or ‘Tony’s ABCs’ that sounds like a fun project, let me know what you think. Also if you have any requests then let me know although I can’t write sex as I’m useless so just non-sexual age play cuteness please. I do enjoy those fics but I just can’t write them, maybe later on in the year if my writing improves. So this is an apology for everyone who has been reading Inner Peace; I’m a bit stuck at the moment so I figured I’d start something new. I've suffered from chronic depression for a couple of years and I’ve had a rough couple of weeks and am having trouble concentrating and continuing that fic. But no-one cares about that so Hopefully this one will keep me distracted and I’ll be able to update it regularly.
> 
> Disclaimer: I in no way shape or form own the avengers or any of the characters in this fic. This is purely for entertainment therefore this is not intended as infringement of copyright or trademarking laws.

The first thing that Steve became aware of, when he came to, was that he was lying on cold concrete. A shiver ran through him as he tried to take stock of the situation. They were … outside the Tower? And something must have happened? He tried to sit up and was floored by an all consuming pain in his abdomen. He had no idea what had happened and the confusion instantly made him feel little. He cried out as the rest of his senses caught up with him. He was crushed with the assault, screaming and yelling almost drowned out the heartbeat thrumming in his ears. He then became aware his head was lying in someones lap.

“Stay still, Steve. You’re fine, just stay still.” It was Daddy Tony, he had one hand clasped around Steve’s and another buried in his hair. His face had smears of blood on it, his eyes widened, was his Daddy hurt? He frowned, eyes still on Tony’s worried face; what happened? Why was he in Daddy Tony’s lap? He squirmed, just as he was about to ask, Daddies Thor and Clint came into his line of sight. 

“Lay still, Steven. Do you know what happened?” Steve slowly rolled his head in Tony’s lap, a wave of dizziness washed over him. 

“Daddies? H’rts” All three pairs of eyes widened at the first words they had heard from their Captain. They hadn't played in a while. It had started as something Steve confided in Bruce with, soon all of the team got involved. Yeah it was weird, but hey, they weren’t hurting anyone. It wasn’t about sex at all, just comfort. Steve was their little boy and the team were his family; Thor, Clint, Bruce and Tony were his Daddies, Natasha and Pepper were his Aunties and even Coulson was his Uncle. He didn’t have a Mommy, his own mother was enough for a lifetime and he felt like if he assigned the title mother to another woman, it was the ultimate insult. They played with him and fed him and gave him baths and tucked him in; it worked for them, it brought them all closer together. 

He felt pressure on his wound and whimpered, clumsily bringing up his unoccupied hand to smack away whoever was pressing on him. It was caught by Thor’s warm calloused palm, as they were in public, Thor lent down close to Steve’s ear to whisper words of much needed comfort.

“Hush, Little one. Daddy Bruce is helping you but you must stay still. A bad man tried to hurt Daddy Tony and you jumped in the way.” At this Tony let out a distressed sound causing Steve’s eyes to snap to him.

“I’m fine, honey. You are never to do that again though, do you hear me?”

“Have to save D’ddy.” Steve slurred, sad that he was getting a scolding for making sure his Daddy wasn’t hurt.

“This is not the time for reprimands Tony, Clint give me your hand… press down here… I’ve got to go get a med kit…”

“Wait… Aren’t you going to say anything to him? He’s scared and he always wants you when he’s scared.” Tony was getting more and more panicked as Steve got weaker. 

Daddy Bruce knelt down by Steve’s head and brushed back his sweaty hair from his forehead. 

“Hey there, love-bug. How’re you doing? I’m going to go get something to help you, ok? You’re being so brave and I’m so proud of you. Hey, can you tell Daddy Thor about the time we went swimming, I’m sure he’d love to hear it.” He left with a smile which turned into snarl at the nearest EMT as soon as he was out of Steve’s eye-line. 

“Aunt Tasha?” Steve called weakly. He couldn’t see her and she sang to him the last time he tripped and skinned his knee.

“She went to find the bad man with Uncle Phil, but she’ll be back, she promises. Now what’s this that Daddy Bruce tells me? Swimming sounds like tremendous fun, little one. Tell me about it.” Thor looked around for Bruce as Steve began recounting his story, the man was losing his colour quickly and every other word was slurred. He turned his attention back to Steve as his grip on his hand slackened slightly.

“Steven? And then what happened? Come on, sweetling. I know you feel tired but I want to hear about swimming.”

“Then I-I J’mped in and spl’shed Daddy… cold Daddy.” Steve shivered. Bruce returned to there little group on the sidewalk and took Clint’s place. The archer moved to Steve’s head with Thor and Tony, he was covered it blood and white as a sheet but Steve only had a smile for him.

“Daddy Clint… Cold.” He felt a sharp scratch in his arm and Daddy Bruce shushed him as he whimpered.

“I know buddy, but you’re doing great ok? When this is all over I’ll make you my special pancakes.”

“With stra’berries?”

“You bet’cha. But what we’re doing now is; you see those flashy lights?” He waited for Steve’s nod- they lit up the evening street- “Well, we’re going in the ambulance to make you better. It’s gonna be so cool and I bet you’ll be my brave little soldier won’t you?” This news alarmed Steve. He didn’t want to go in the Ambulance. They were scary. They took his Mommy away in an Ambulance and she didn’t wake up, tears rolled down his face.

“No! No Am’blance Daddy! No! I wanna wake up! Mommy didn’t wake up! No Am’blance, love you… don’t make me leav-.” He was cut off as all four of his Daddies lifted him onto a stretcher and a mask was pushed onto his face. The lights bathed everything in a blue light as he tried to get away. Daddy Tony stroked his tear-stained cheek.

“We’re not making you leave, honey. You need to go to get better but Daddy Bruce is going to be there the whole time. You’ll never be alone. Me and Daddy Thor and Daddy Clint will find Auntie Tasha and Uncle Phil and we’ll come and stay with you. But you’ve got to be brave, I promise you will wake up.”

“Steve, baby. Daddy’s going to give you something to put you to sleep alright? I promise I won’t leave you the whole time and you’ll wake up without any pain. Sleep tight baby boy.” Each of his Daddies bent down to give him a kiss on the forehead before he was loaded into the Ambulance. The whole exchange had been held in quiet whispers until Steve’s outburst, which had caused the EMT's nearby to give them a disgusted look. Bruce sat next to Steve in the Ambulance and held his hand.

“Freaky…” He heard the EMT mutter to his partner as they closed the door. Bruce’s eyes flashed a dangerous green 

“ Excuse me?! He hit his head, he’s a bit confused. Although it’s really non of your business is it?”

“No, sir. I apologise. I’ll just check his vitals.” 

As the vehicle sped away, Tony collapsed sideways onto Clint and Thor, who barely had the strength to keep themselves up. He took a shaky breath.

“He just dived in the way. I can’t believe he did that… and the switch… he just snapped into his little head-space. He hasn’t done that in a while… something’s been bothering him since the last time we all played.” 

“When he gets out of the hospital we should make more of an effort to have little time with him. He’s been so stressed recently and he’ll need time to heal… if he’ll heal. W-will he be okay?” Clint’s voice shook as hard as his hands did. Thor wrapped his arms around him and Tony.

“Ofcourse he will recover! Our good Captain is strong, as is out little Steven. He will be fine Clint, I promise. We will just have to help him recover, he is far too stubborn sometimes.”

They all agreed as they watched the spark in their lives speed away in the back of an Ambulance.


	2. B is for Boo-Boos, Bathtime and Baking.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boys night in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For MyLittleAngel who guessed 'B was for Bathtime'.
> 
> There's a trigger warning in this for Depression and Angst. If this is difficult for you then please don't read. It will be a small the theme running throughout this fic although I don't think it'll be anything hardcore. I will label it if it does though; Don't worry.
> 
> Enjoy my lovelies! x

Steve walked down the hallway to the elevator. He was going to Daddy Bruce’s floor, they were going to spend the afternoon together. He arrived at Daddy Bruce’s floor to find it shrouded in darkness. Steve frowned, normally Daddy Bruce was an early riser. It was strange that he hadn’t come to get Steve after lunch, Steve had changed into his little clothes himself. 

He tip-toed through the hallway into the living room. There he found Daddy Bruce and Daddy Clint asleep on the sofa. He crept up to them and watched. Daddy Clint was on his back with Daddy Bruce curled up on his chest, it looked as if Daddy Clint had been crying as his cheeks were damp and red. 

At that moment, Bruce stretched and rose up onto his elbow; looking down at his human pillow he smiled tenderly. It wasn’t until he heard a soft rustle of clothing that he saw his little boy standing nervously by the couch. 

“Steve, baby? What are you doing here?” He looked at the clock. “Oh, love. I’m sorry, I was supposed to come and get you. It’s just that Daddy Clint had a bad night and I was looking after him. I must’ve fallen asleep.” He readjusted his glasses after he’d rubbed his eyes.

“Look at you, you got dressed all by yourself? What a big boy, you shouldn’t have had to though, and for that, Daddy’s sorry.” Bruce whispered as he climbed over Clint and stood in front of his boy. 

“Sorry, Daddy. Do you want me to leave you and Daddy Clint alone?” he whispered with a blush, not wanting to wake the other man.

“I hope no-one was thinking of leaving. Is that my sweet boy I hear?” A rough voice sounded from the couch, making both the scientist and the super soldier jump. Steve ran over and threw his arms around Clint’s neck, giving him a big kiss on the cheek.

“Why sad Daddy? Was I bad?” Steve chewed on his lip, it was a bad habit when he was nervous. He felt two fingers lift his chin up to make him meet his Daddy’s eyes.

“No, darlin', Ofcourse you weren’t bad! Daddy just had a sad night last night and Daddy Bruce made it all better.” He pulled Steve into a hug and mouthed ‘thank you’ to Bruce over his shoulder, who smiled and went to put on some coffee.

“Why sad? Was it a boo-boo? Did Daddy Bruce make it better?”

“Yeah… it was like a boo-boo. A boo-boo in my heart, that’s why I was sad. But that’s not for little boys to worry about. Now did you and Daddy Bruce have plans today?” Steve nodded and Clint leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Could I join you for today? I’ll be on my best behaviour but I want to spend my day with my most favourite little boy in the world.”

“Yeah Daddy! That good! Ask Daddy Bruce!”

“Ask Daddy Bruce what love-bug?” Bruce asked as he returned to the living room with two cups of coffee and a sippy cup of orange juice. He handed the sippy cup to Steve, who gulped the juice with gusto, and gave the other coffee mug to Clint who deeply inhaled the strong coffee scent. 

“Ahhh, heaven. I was just asking our Stevie if I could join you today?”

“Can he Daddy? P’ease? Daddy Clint had a boo-boo on his heart and we need to make sure it stays fixed.” Steve answered with a definitive nod. Bruce looked meaningfully at Clint and knew that the man was still in a vulnerable state. 

“Ofcourse, you can. We wouldn’t want anyone else helping us would we Steve? We’re going to make some cookies.” Steve’s face light up at this, causing the two adults to giggle at his excitement.

“Yeah! Daddy Tony burns everything and Daddy Thor eats everything before we put it in the oven! Auntie Tasha and Auntie Pepper can bake but they are away with Uncle Phil.” Steve finished with a pout; he preferred his family to be all together for mealtimes but this week Phil, Tasha and Pepper were at S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters in Munich to sort out international relations or something equally as dull-or he thinks that’s what Daddy Tony told him.

“Yeah but they’ll be back next week, and we can have them for dessert with Daddy Tony and Daddy Thor. We can have a boys night in, doesn’t that sound fun? We’ll get Daddy Thor and Daddy Tony later and we’ll have dinner and then you can have your bath. After that you’ll get your jammies on and we’ll all snuggle in front of the TV, you can even pick a movie.” Steve could barely contain his excitement. He loved the women in his life, but sometimes a night with his Daddies was really fun; they were all such goof-balls and they took really good care of him. 

After Clint and Bruce got ready, they led Steve into the kitchen, which had all the baking supplies laid out. Steve made a beeline for the counter but was stopped with a hand on his arm. He turned to his Daddy Bruce who held out an apron for him to wear. It was a full length apron with his Captain America uniform on it, Bruce wore a Green Hulk inspired one and Clint wore a purple and black one with a fake quiver on the back. It had started as a gift to Bruce from Tony, as a joke. Little Steve had become so enamoured with the idea that Tony commissioned one for everyone, that they could use whenever they cook. 

“Seriously? Dude, come on. I’m not wearing that.” Clint said to Bruce as he watched him tie Steve’s securely round his waist.

“You have to Daddy! Daddy Bruce says! It’s for safel-ty.” Steve said with big round eyes.

“It’s for _safety_ baby, well done. So you have to wear it Daddy.” Bruce replied with a smirk as Steve helped him tie it. Soon they were all ‘suited and booted’ to bake and they gathered around the kitchen counter. Steve and Clint mixed the ingredients while Bruce followed their path of destruction and cleaned the counter and utensils. 

While Daddy Bruce was cleaning and Daddy Clint was putting the cookies in the oven, Steve decided he would help tidy away. The only thing left to do was put away the left over ingredients. He put the butter back into the fridge and went to put the bag of flour back in the cupboard. Unfortunately, Steve’s grip wasn’t as solid as it could have been due to excess cookie mixture on his hands; the bag slipped and sent flour all over the place. Steve stood stock-still with wide eyes as his Daddies turned around at the bang. 

“Uh-oh! Uh-oh! Sorry Daddies! I' Sowwie!” Big fat tears rolled down his cheeks, making clear tacky tracks in the dusting of flour on his face. Clint and Bruce rushed to him and enveloped him in a hug.

“Oh, no. Baby boy, we’re not mad. It was an accident. Accidents happen, shh. Don’t cry, sweetheart.” Bruce cooed at the upset little boy who had sunk to the floor, along with his Daddies, in his upset. 

“It’s alright, my mucky-pup. We’ll just have a quick clean up and then we’ll get you in that bath before dinner.” Each man took hold of one of Steve’s hands and pulled him up, the boy sniffled and rubbed his eyes, which only succeeded in getting more flour everywhere. 

“Sorry, Daddies.” Steve mumbled as Bruce got the vacuum out. The kitchen was clean in no time and Clint and Bruce set on cleaning their poor boy. They led him to the bathroom and Bruce got him undressed while Clint filled the bath. While they waited for the tub to fill; Clint went to get Steve’s sweats and Bruce took Steve’s face in his hands with a calm smile.

“Come on, Little Guy. Cheer up. We’re not mad and there’s nothing for you to say sorry for. Let’s get you all clean and then we’ll go get Daddy Tony and Daddy Thor for dinner, okay?” Clint returned and Steve nodded, Clint placed the sweats onto the counter and helped Bruce get him settled into the tub.

They washed all the flour off of him and out of his hair. Steve never liked getting his hair washed but he sat still, waiting patiently till they were done. 

“No Toys, Daddy?” Steve frowned, looking between his Daddies. Bruce rolled his eyes and Clint grinned as the scientist reached under the sink and got out Steve’s bath toys. Most of them had supplies for Steve on their floor as Steve often had a tendency to randomly regress and Tony wanted everyone to be prepared. 

Steve by-passed all his usual toys for his water soluble crayons. He picked out blue, red, green and brown. He got to drawing random pictures on the wall, all the while chatting to his Daddies about what he was drawing. 

“Look Daddy! A star!” Steve pointed to a copy of his shield he had just drawn.

“Oh! What a little Michelangelo we have Daddy Clint! That’s beautiful, Steve.” Bruce praised while ruffling Steve’s damp blonde locks. After a while the water started to cool and Steve began to shiver.

“Come on then, baby. Let’s go get you changed into some sweats.” 

“Not jammies Daddy?” Steve yawned, the bath had made him a bit drowsy. 

“It’s too early for jammies, silly. Anyways, we’re having spaghetti for dinner and you’ll just end up needing a wash anyways, my messy boy.” Clint and Bruce hoisted Steve out of the bath. It was a shame that only Thor could carry him on his hip, but Steve understood he was too big to be carted about by his other Daddies and Aunties. They got Steve dressed and sat him in front of the TV with some cartoons while Clint and Bruce made dinner. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony was putting the finishing touches on some new designs for Natasha’s Widow Bites when he heard the door to his lab open and bare feet walking towards him.

“Steeeeevie! Honey, what did Daddy say about being barefoot in the lab?” He turned his chair around to be greeted by a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Um… not to do it? Sorry Daddy.” He answered sweetly, Tony bopped him on the nose.

“Yes, indeed don't do it. It’s just so that you don’t get hurt. There are some dangerous things in here and it would be horrible if you were to cut you’re little foot open. I take it dinner is ready and you’ve been ordered to come get me.”

“Yes Daddy, we need to go right now.” He replied, trying to drag Tony out of the lab and to the kitchen.

“Sir, yes sir!” He saluted and followed at a march. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thor was in one of the many indoor gardens in Avenger’s Tower, reading on a bench. He knew that tonight they were going to have a family meal- those of them who were there- and Bruce had sent a message round saying it was to be a ‘Boy’s night’. Thor knew Steve would be brimming with excitement and he was not wrong as at that moment he sped round the corner and almost crashed into him. 

“Daddy! Dinner is ready and I’ve got to come and get you! Come on. We’re going to watch a movie later, so we gotta go now.” Steve had aged up a little bit since his bath so he was able to move around their floors on his own. J.A.R.V.I.S was always watching so there was no harm he could come to. 

“Well, little prince. Let us dine!” He hauled Steve up and onto his back and they ran throughout the halls leading to the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony, Bruce and Clint all smiled when they heard Steve and Thor giggling on their way to the kitchen.

“Whoa guys, no running in the kitchen.” Bruce laughed. “Steve wash your hands then sit at the table please.” Steve did as he was told and sat in between Tony and Clint while Bruce served the spaghetti. They talked about their days for a while until Steve broke the easy silence they had fallen into. 

“Daddy Clint? Better now? No more sad?” His speech patterns had aged down over dinner but he was still old enough to see that something was bothering his Daddy. 

“Yeah, darlin'. I-I’m good.” Clint stuttered, covering his eyes with his hand. Steve gasped as he saw a tear slip between his fingers, he turned to Daddy Bruce. 

“Oh, no no no no. I made Daddy Clint sad! I Sowwie!” Steve babbled as he too got upset. Tony rose from his seat and wrapped his arms around Clint, he whispered something in Clint’s ear to which he nodded, wiped his eyes and left the room to collect himself. Steve whipped his head around and started crying in earnest as Tony went to comfort him.

“Honey, You didn’t do anything I promise. Daddy Clint is just a little bit sick, his heart gets sad sometimes and there’s nothing we can do except make sure he has lots of cuddles and kisses. You think you could do that for me? Make sure he gets lots of cuddles and kisses?” Steve nods his head emphatically and Tony takes him by the hand to take him to the bathroom Clint was in. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clint blows his nose and takes a deep breath. This was getting worse, he hadn’t had visit from the ‘black dog’ in a while and today it had bitten him twice. He just needed to shake it. He splashed water on his face and turned towards the door as someone knocked and entered. What he saw made his battered heart melt. Steve was stood there, holding Tony’s hand in a death grip with tears streaming down his face and spaghetti sauce all down his shirt.

“Oh, sweet boy. I hope those tears aren’t for me? I’m sorry I scared you Steve, it’s alright.” Steve flung himself into his Daddy Clint’s arms and placed a big kiss on his cheek. They stood there hugging for a minute until Tony pulled them both into the spare bedroom. He pulled out a spare pair of jammies for Steve and started to dress him while Clint went to apologise to the others for his abrupt exit. 

“One foot… aaaand… the other. Good job honey, you want Daddy to do the buttons or you?” Tony said, caressing his cheek.

“Daddy.” Steve replied, quietly slipping his thumb in his mouth while his Daddy did up his buttons. When Tony raised his eyes to the boy’s face and saw he was sucking his thumb he lowered Steve’s hand from his mouth.

“You want your paci? Open up… There we go.” Tony smiled as Steve’s eyes closed with his rhythmic suckling. 

Thor then entered and brought Steve up onto his hip. He bounced the little one a few times before they danced into the living room. The rest of the Daddies had gotten changed into their own jammies and watched with a smile as Thor waltzed little Stevie around the couch several times. The boy giggled and hid his face in his Daddy’s neck. He loved all of his Daddies equally but there was something about being carried by Thor that made his heart swell. 

They all settled on the couch and turned on the movie that Steve picked; Toy Story. Just as the credits began to roll, Steve rested his head on Clint’s chest. He took out the pacifier from between his lips and kissed Clint’s chest through his pyjama top, right where his heart was. All eyes were on him and glazed over as he whispered.

“You have to kiss a Boo-boo to make it better.” Clint gave Steve a tender smile and kissed the boy on his forehead, pushing his fingers through his hair.

“It’s all better now, sweet-pea. You were just what I needed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos would be lovely if deserved. ;) x


	3. C is for Camera

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone snaps a photo of Steve and attempts to blackmail the Avengers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope you're enjoying this. I'm certainly enjoying writing it, it's keeping my mind away from some very dark places. Clint is going to have a bit of a struggle in this fix, as you can already imagine but nothing too heavy yet. 
> 
> Enjoy! x

The flash went off, blinding the group of people exiting the toy-store and rushing for their large car. No-one took much notice, particularly the man who was clutching his newly bought teddy bear as well a clutching the hands of billionaire Tony Stark and the red-headed CEO of Stark Industries, Pepper Potts. As they bundled into the car the three took a breath. Steve sat in the middle of them with his bear on his lap and made a small sad smile.

“What’s the matter sweetie? Don’t you like your bear?” Auntie Pepper asked while she held his hand. 

“I love my bear, Auntie Pepper… but… everyone was lookin’ at me. I don’t like people starin’.”

“Who was staring? I’m sorry honey, Daddy didn’t see. If he had he’d have kicked their butts.” Tony said with a flourish, earning himself a giggle from Steve and a swat from Pepper.

“We don't say _butts_ sweetie, alright? That’s a bad word.” They spent the rest of the journey chatting about what Steve had seen in the toy-store. Tony had bought it out for the whole afternoon so that his little boy could play undisturbed from prying eyes; who would assume that their activities were less than the innocence they were. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steve raced through Daddy Clint’s hallway towards the living room where the rest of his family were assembled. Tony and Pepper followed him with a smile. Steve skidded to a halt when he reached Daddy Thor who scooped him up and spun him around.

“Hello my little prince! What is that I see? A new friend? How exciting, why don’t you introduce us all to him.” He placed Steve down in his lap after he’d seated himself on the sofa. 

“This… i-is Bucky Bear. He’s my best friend in the whole wide world and he always protects me.” All the adults in the room shared a sad look before looking back to the boy being bounced on Thor’s lap. 

“Well, it’s an honour to meet you Bucky Bear, Thank you for protecting our Steve for us.” Thor shook his paw, causing Steve to giggle and hide his face in his Daddy’s neck. The rest of the family took their time shaking Bucky Bears paw and thanking him for his protection of Steve, which led to Steve having the brightest smile on his face. 

“That’s what I like to see, buddy! A big smile on your face… Now what do you want to do the rest of the evening?” Clint walked over to Thor and Steve and gathered the boy in a big hug. Steve thought that Daddy Clint gave the best hugs because he always meant them, they always meant something special, although Steve couldn’t quite place why. He snuggled into Daddy Clint and gave a big yawn.

“Oh, deary-me! What a big yawn. I think it’s time for your nap don’t you think?” Steve vehemently shook his head with a frown at his Daddy’s suggestion. 

“No nap, Daddy.” Steve pouted, putting his thumb in his mouth and leaning against his Daddy’s shoulder.

“Yes nap, baby boy. Come on.” He pulls himself up and Steve sits in his vacant spot. He raises his arms at Clint, requesting to be picked up. Clint gently took his hands and lowered his arms.

“I’m sorry, sweet boy but Daddy can’t carry you. I really wish I could... but I can’t.” It broke Clint’s heart that he couldn’t carry Steve; Tony and Bruce too. Clint was one of his Daddies and he couldn’t bounce him on his hip or rock him in his arms as he cried. It made him feel like scum, especially when Steve was too little to understand; which he seemed to be now. Clint looked pleadingly at Thor who gave his a sympathetic smile and carried Steve to Clint’s bedroom. Whenever Steve took a nap someone always took a nap with him and today it was Clint’s turn. Clint took a few steading breaths and got himself into check. He didn’t need to have a meltdown today. Bruce saw he was struggling and went over to lay a hand on his shoulder, pulling him against him. 

“Hey, it’s ok. He gets it, he just… forgets sometimes. I feel the same way but we can’t let him see. He’s worried about you Clint, we all are. Do you want to stay with me tonight?” Clint nodded into Bruce shoulder and sighed. They both heard the muffled call of ‘Daddy’ from Steve and Clint broke free from Bruce’s embrace.

“Enough of this mushy shit, I’ve got to have a nap with my boy.” Clint said with a grateful smile and headed for his bedroom. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony sighed as he flopped on Clint’s couch cuddling between Bruce and Thor.

“I thought he was doing better. This is killing me, watching him suffer through this and there’s nothing we can do.” It hurt them all,it was clear that Clint was having a hard time and the only one of them who could make much of a difference was Steve.

“He’s been like this for as long as I’ve known him, he gets better then he gets worse, it’s a cycle.” Natasha nonchalantly answers from the armchair.

“A vicious cycle.” Tony snaps at her. Natasha’s relationship with the team was still a bit strained due to the fact that she’s not 100% comfortable with the Age-Play. When it had first come up, she had joined in just as much as the rest of them but after a while, Steve’s codependency on his ‘family’ had started to freak her out causing her to snap at him. The fallout was not pretty. It took all four of his Daddies, Auntie Pepper and Uncle Phil to coax Steve out from his wardrobe to patch him up. Since then Natasha takes part, but takes a more quiet role in the game, not wanting to push over her own boundaries of comfortability. 

“He’s fine, he’s coped for years and you’re doing him no good by coddling him.”

“It’s not coddling it’s love! How can you say that about him? He’s sick, he knows he’s sick and _you’re_ doing him no favours by pretending everything’s fine.” Tony was starting to get annoyed.

“Both of you stop it. Tony’s right, Natasha. Clint is sick and we need to give him support not sweep it under the carpet.” Bruce answered. Natasha harrumphed and left with a flounce. Tony was about to make a scathing remark when J.A.R.V.I.S called their attention.

“Sir, My apologies for disturbing you but you have just received an email consisting of photos which, I assume, are an attempt at blackmail.”

“Damn it, Tony. What did you do?”

“Nothing! I swear Bruce, nothing.” Tony argued. He scanned his brain thinking of anything incriminating that anyone would know about; he couldn’t think of anything. 

“Bring it up on my Stark-Pad, J?” Pepper, Thor, Tony and Bruce all huddled around the Stark-Pad as the email loaded. It was a request for 5 Million dollars by Midnight or else the pictures below would be released. Tony scrolled down and instantly felt sick. The photos must have been taken only hours ago, depicted Tony, Pepper and Steve exiting the toy store all holding hands. Steve had Bucky Bear tucked under his arm and had such a childlike expression on his face there was little explaining they could do to make this disappear. The caption at the end made Tony’s blood boil. ‘Transfer the money, or the big freak’s secret gets plastered all over the front page!’

“Oh fuck.” Tony exclaimed. “What are we gonna do? We can’t tell him. He’ll be crushed, if everyone finds out our credibility will be shot to shit.” Bruce got up and paced, running his hand through his salt and pepper curls every few steps. 

“J? Can you track this scumbag?”

“I’ve located the building the server is in sir, however I am unable to access it. To erase the data someone will have to plant an encrypted programme in the server itself, so that I can do it from the inside. They won’t even know we were in there.”

“Right then, let’s suit up. Thor, you’re with me. You two, stay here and let Clint know the situation when they both get up from their nap. Do _not_ tell Steve.”

“Are we sure that’s wise Tony?” Pepper asked.

“Yes it’s _wise_ Pep. He’s Steve’s Daddy too, so he needs to know.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clint awoke from his nap feeling refreshed, he was also being clung to like a limpet. Steve often suffered from nightmares so he got very clingy about sleeping. He rolled to the side and Steve settled on his chest. Clint watched him sleep for a little while, stroking his blonde hair and just enjoying the sense of calm the boy brought over him. 

“Hmm… Daddy?” Steve croaked, running his eyes. 

“Hey, baby boy. Did you have a nice nap?” Steve nodded and stretched.

“Let’s go and see everyone in the living room okay? We’ll watch a movie.” Clint made to get up out of the bed when Steve grabbed his wrist and pulled him into a sudden, tight hug.

“Steve?… Darlin', are you alright?” Clint asked, tentatively returning the hug.

“Fine, Daddy. I Sorry I asked you to carry me. I too heavy and didn’t think.” Steve said with downcast eyes.

“It’s not because you’re too heavy… It’s just that Daddy’s… too small and not as strong as you. Don’t worry about it. You didn’t upset me I promise. Come on.” Daddy Clint gave him a reassuring smile and they both went into the living room. Steve saw Daddy Bruce and Auntie Pepper making snacks and sat on the couch. Daddy Thor and Tony were gone and he didn’t know where they were. He was just about to ask Daddy Clint, who had joined the others in the kitchen, when Daddy Tony’s Stark-Pad caught his eye. Sometimes Daddy Tony and him would play hide and seek and he’d leave Steve clues to follow on his Stark-Pad. Maybe that’s where Daddies Thor and Tony were! He rushed over and clicked it on. An image flooded the screen which he was about to dismiss until he saw what it contained. All the colour drained from his face and he immediately dropped the Stark-Pad as if it had burned him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“What the hell do you mean, someone found out?” Clint hissed at Bruce and Pepper in disbelief just before they heard a thump and saw Steve running out of the room towards the elevator with a wail. 

They all headed after him but all they saw as the elevator doors closed was Steve hunched in a ball in the corner crying into his knees. 

“J.A.R.V.I.S! Stop the elevator and open the doors!” Bruce yelled. J.A.R.V.I.S did as he was asked and the doors sprung open. All three of them crouched in front of Steve and put a hand on him.

“Steve? Sweetheart, what’s the matter? You can tell Daddy, you’re safe, baby.” Bruce cooed at the shaking form in the corner. 

“Imma' big freak and ev’rybodies gonna know now!” He sobbed, launching himself at Bruce who caught him and settled in for the long haul.

“Now, now… Steve where did you hear that? You’re not a big freak, love. We adore you.” 

“Daddy’s Stark-Pad, there was picture of me on there! And- And...Auntie Tasha says I’m a freak! They're riiiiiiiight!” Steve wailed as he buried his face in his Daddy’s warm chest. Bruce shushed him for a minute while he tried to calm down himself. He looked at Pepper and Clint who had their jaws clenched and fists balled up.

“Sweetie, Auntie Tasha doesn’t think you’re a freak. I promise, she’s just not used to how much you love us all, she tries when she can but that has nothing to do with you. That’s all her sweetie, I promise. As for that email, Daddy Thor and Daddy Tony have sorted all that out, they should be home any minute. It was just a nasty man who had nothing better to do than follow us with a camera, we won’t go out for a while if you don’t want to. We had hoped you wouldn’t see that and I’m sorry that you did. But you are not a freak and no-one will see those pictures. We promise.” Pepper finished with an easy smile and Daddy Clint and Daddy Bruce nodded their heads in agreement. 

“Now come on, love-bug. No more tears okay?” Daddy Bruce softly whispered as he wiped Steve’s tears away with his sleeve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, Comments and Kudos would be lovely. ;) x


	4. D is for Doctor and Diaper.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve hides when he sees Bruce with his stethoscope and assumes he's going to get a shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a bit of trouble uploading this chapter so I'll try again. Hope you're all enjoying this as much as I am enjoying reading your feedback. I haven't forgotten about Inner Peace but I'm struggling with that at the moment. I'm sorry for that but I will not abandon it, I will press on!
> 
> Anyways... Enjoy! x

“Steven Rogers! You get back here this instant! You are never to run away from Daddy.” Hurried footsteps rushed past where Steve was hiding under the couch. His Daddy Bruce had his stethoscope and that meant he was Doctor Daddy Bruce and wanted to give Steve a shot. It always did. Steve kept extra quiet for 2 whole minutes. Just as he was about to stick his head out to check if the coast was clear, they struck.

Within the space of 2 seconds Daddy Thor had grabbed hold of Steve’s ankles and pulled him out, unintentionally causing Steve to hit his head on the frame of the sofa. The chuckling that could be heard cut off abruptly as Steve screamed in pain. The man could be shot in the stomach and make barely a whimper but when little Steve gets so much as a paper cut; he screams. 

“Owwie Owwie Owwie!! DADDY!!” He didn’t know which Daddy he was screaming for he just knew that his head hurt and he needed help. He heard several voices at once. 

“STEVE?!” Daddy Tony screeched as he ran into the room, looking for whatever had hurt his baby.

“Steven, little prince. I am sorry. I didn’t realise that would happen. I’m so sorry, sweetling. Let Daddy have a look. Oh… Oh BRUCE! He’s bleeding!”

“BLEEDING?!” Tony and Steve screeched once again. Steve brought his hand down in front of his face and it was indeed covered in blood. When Steve was in his little headspace he hated the sight of blood. Tears flooded down his cheeks as he began to panic. Daddy Bruce knelt down in front of him and took his hands in his.

“Shh, Steve. Love-bug. You have to calm down. It’s going to bleed more if you don’t calm down. Let Daddy have a look.” Even though Bruce wasn’t a medical doctor, he was still the best one in the Tower to patch anyone up and was always the first port of call for an injured Steve. Tony was flittering about and Thor had a grave look on his face. 

“D’ddyyyy. H’rts.” Steve whimpered.

“Oh fuck! He’s slurring! Bruce, he’s slurring!”

“Tony! Babe you’ve got to calm down too alright? I know he’s slurring and I’m going to look him over. Thor… Thor! I need you to get him to the lab, I can’t lift him… Phil, give him a hand; he doesn’t look too good himself.” They all rose when Thor and Phil carried Steve to the elevator. 

“All this fuss because of a little physical.” Bruce muttered as he steered Tony into the elevator with a hand on his lower back.

Steve’s eyes were closing and he felt dizzy. He was going to throw up. He whimpered; he hated throwing up. Thor tightened his grip on the lad as he saw the greenish tinge to his skin.

“Bruce… this is all my fault. He won’t want to see me ever again.”

“Thor, stop. He’s going to be fine. It’s just a little bump, nothing major, head wounds bleed profusely, you know that. He’ll be cuddling up on your lap in no time.” Tony reassured as Bruce nodded.

“Steve… do you feel sick? Hang on baby, we’re almost there.” Bruce rushed as Steve nodded. The elevator got out in one of Bruce’s medical labs where he ran to a workbench and brought back an emesis basin which Steve promptly threw up in. Bruce tutted and wiped Steve’s mouth when he was finished.

“Alright, guys get him on the bed. Tony go and get me a kit to do stitches. He’s going to need them.” Upon hearing this Steve started his struggle once more.

“No neeeed’e Daddy! P’ease! No ouchie!” Steve whined, he was sat on Daddy Thor’s lap with Daddy Tony in front of him making funny shapes with the light from his arc reactor. Daddy Bruce was situated behind Steve parting his hair to see the damage and Uncle Phil had a hold of his hands, giving him something to squeeze while he was getting stitched up.

“It’s alright, I’ll be really quick, Stevie. You just squeeze Uncle Phil’s hands if it hurts. What do you want to do later?” 

“D’ddy Clinnnt said ice-icce cream.” His voice sounded funny, like kind of slow and lazy. 

“Oh fuck, we’ve got to call Clint. He’ll go upstairs and freak if he sees the blood but no-one there.” Tony realised before he returned his attention back to Steve. “That’s great, honey. Ice cream sounds great, right Daddies? Uncle Phil?” Everyone agreed as Bruce finished up his stitches, he moved around to where Tony was and shone a light in Steve’s eyes.

“Look at the light, Steve. Good boy.” Steve smiled at the praise, he felt all floaty and light. Maybe Daddy Clint could carry him now if he was floaty. His Daddy’s voice came back to him, he sounded like he’d been calling his name for a while. 

“Steve? Steve… Love-bug, look at Daddy! There we go. Hello, sweetheart. Now I know you feel dizzy so you’re going to go for a nap.” Steve grip on Uncle Phil’s hands tightened and Phil took that as a protest.

“We’ll take a nap with you. We won’t leave you, baby. It’s a special kind of nap, we’re going to play a little question game every hour.” Uncle Phil let go of one of his hands to smooth back his hair, being careful of the new stitches. 

At that moment J.A.R.V.I.S sounded. 

“Sir, Mister Barton’s vitals have just spiked after finding the blood on Mister Odinson’s floor.”

“Open a channel J! …Hey Clint, it’s okay, we’re all fine! Steve banged his head and he’s all stitched up now. Take a breath and meet us on my floor, nap time.” 

The five of them slowly made their way to Tony’s floor, stopping every time Steve whimpered to sooth him. He wasn’t concussed but he needed to be monitored for a few hours and the men had nowhere they needed to be. They reached Tony’s bedroom and opened the door, only to be greeted by an extremely frantic Clint Barton pacing the floor. He rushed over to them as soon as the door opened. 

“Steve! Are you alright? Is he alright? He seems pretty out of it? Is he concussed? What happened?” Clint babbled as Thor lay Steve in the middle of the bed. Tony took Clint by the shoulders and gave him a quick shake. 

“Whoa, man. He’s fine. Bruce needed to give him his physical and he freaked when he saw the stethoscope. Must’ve thought he was going to get a shot, poor little guy. He’s going to have a wicked headache when he wakes up, but that’s all. Breathe, we’re all fine.”

“You assholes!” Clint hissed breathlessly, thumping Tony on the arm. “I saw the blood… and I thought… I wondered if I’d… if it… Just- Don’t do that to me again!” Clint took a shaky step towards the bed and gazed at Steve.

“We’ve got to get him out of those clothes.”

“Yeah, we should get him ready for bed.”

“Would it not be wise for Steven to have a diaper for the night? Just so that he doesn’t need to get up for anything while he rests? I don’t think he’ll have a problem with it, he didn’t when he was shot.” Thor suggested with a blush to his cheeks.

“Yeah, Bruce can you sort that? Guys come on lets go and get changed for bed, I think a lazy day in front of the TV is in order.” Thor, Phil and Clint filed out with Tony as Bruce pulled out the diaper supplies that were on every floor. Steve rarely wore diapers, Bruce knew that he liked them but Steve thought the others would shun him if he wore them every time they played. This was nonsense of course, but Steve had told Bruce all of this when he had first found out his secret and Bruce was the only one Steve trusted to diaper him. Later on this would change but Steve and Bruce had immediately bonded when they began playing, the others joined in a few weeks later. 

“Alright, baby boy. Let’s get you all nice and warm for bed.” Bruce whispered adoringly at Steve as he tapped his cheek to keep him somewhat alert. He rearranged Steve so that he was laying on top of a clean diaper and he sprinkled powder over him. He taped it up and began getting Steve into his starry onesie as the others filed back in all in their sweats and comfy clothes. They all piled on the bed while Bruce rid himself of his bloody clothes and put on some of Tony’s old sweats. They put on a movie on the TV in front of the bed and all five men watched while the boy slept. They all took turns gently waking Steve to ask him some memory questions to make absolutely sure he wasn’t concussed. 

Soon everyone on the bed fell asleep after the emotionally draining day. Steve was in the middle with his head on Clint’s chest, his legs intwined with Tony’s and Bruce’s with and hand each holding one of Thor’s and Phil’s. It was this scene that was captured perfectly by J.A.R.V.I.S and was later painted onto one of Steve’s- not as of yet built- nursery walls.

… But that is a whole other story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos would be lovely if deserved. ;) x


	5. E is for Exploring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Auntie Pepper go exploring in the gardens... until Pepper gets called away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! There’s a dumb little nerdy Easter Egg in here for those who care. The first one who can guess its relevance to me correctly, will get a mention in the next chapter and the chapter will be of a subject of their choice (Age play related unless its interesting enough to be a one-off). So enjoy and happy hunting! ;) x

Steve grunted as he tried to cram himself through one of the open grates Daddy Clint spends some of his time climbing through.

“Stevie, sweetie? What are you doing?” 

“‘Splorin’! Auntie Pepper.” Steve’s voiced echoed inside the vent and bore a tone which screamed ‘obviously’.

“Oh, exploring. Ofcourse you are, I think you might be a little bit too big for that though. Why don’t we go and explore some of the gardens? There are some really pretty flowers in there.”

“M’kay…” Steve mumbled getting to his feet and grabbing Auntie Pepper’s hand. He was a bit disappointed that he couldn’t explore where Daddy Clint went, but the garden will probably be fun. 

He held Auntie Pepper’s hand as she led him to the elevator. 

“Auntie Pepper?” Steve asked.

“Yes, sweetie?” 

“Can you help me pick some flowers for the dinner table please?”

“What a lovely thought, that sounds like a great idea, such a thoughtful boy.” Steve blushed lightly at the praise and smiled. He liked being a good boy, he liked being helpful. 

The elevator stopped and opened its doors. Steve gasped; he’d never been in this garden before. It was like walking through a rainforest. Vines and leaves wrapped round strong metal supports and retreated into the eaves of green above them. 

“Wow…” Steve said in awe, to which Pepper just smiled and nodded. This garden was of Pepper’s own design. Living and working with Tony Stark had caused her to crave the un-tameable in her surroundings. She and Tony weren’t together anymore but that was fine. What they had now was stronger, untainted by emotions and displaced feelings. She was happy and she hoped Tony was happy with whatever was happening in his love life. She watched as Steve cautiously made his way through the foliage and sat on a bench, he was entranced by the sheer unpredictability of it, there were no real flower beds or displays; it was as if nature was given free reign. He always felt at one with nature. It was unforgiving but understanding and never apologetic for what it was. He wished he didn’t feel shame for his tendency to regress, he was often struck with shame and hatred for his dependency on his friends. Daddy Bruce had assured him that they all love him but he still feels like a burden sometimes. 

“Alright honey, now this is a big garden so don’t go touching anything that looks dangerous okay? There are some plants in here that could make you really really sick, so I need you to stay with me.”

“M-kay, Auntie Pepper.” Steve wanted to look at everything but he didn’t want to be told off for being impatient. They did a round of the mesmerising garden before Steve started to decide which ones to pick. However, just as the activity was getting interesting J.A.R.V.I.S interrupted.

“Excuse me, Miss Potts. I am terribly sorry to interrupt but there is a Mr Alexander in Conference room 616, who is very disgruntled about his Issue Card not letting him in Master Stark’s labs.”

“I’m sorry, sweetie.” Auntie Pepper sighed. “I’ve got to go and deal with one of your Daddy Tony’s business associates, before someone starts throwing around lawsuits.” She moved towards the elevator before doubling back and gazing into his eyes for a moment.

“Are you old enough to make your way to one of your Daddies? You could age up if you want but I need to go and I can’t leave you on your own if you’re very little.” Pepper knew she should take him herself but she couldn’t leave the businessman alone for too long; the last time she did, it did not go well.

Steve frowned, he didn’t want to age up, that was boring. He knew he was probably too little to be on his own but he didn’t want to be a bother to Auntie Pepper, he swallowed and put on his best ‘Big Boy’ voice. 

“Yes, Auntie Pepper. I’m big enough to go and find one of my Daddies.” He said with a big smile. She ruffled his hair, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and scurried off towards the elevator. 

Steve waited a few minutes until Auntie Pepper was likely out of the elevator and called it back up to the floor he was on. He stepped inside and scanned the buttons. He remembered a few weeks ago when Daddy Tony had taken him on a tour of everything, he considered his options before deciding on the top one. Daddy Thor had taken him up to the top roof terrace to look at the stars and tell him tales of Asgard. Steve had always loved the stars. He pushed the button for the terrace but the elevator didn’t move. He frowned, why wasn’t the elevator going to the roof? He pushed the button again and again nothing happened. He tried a third time when a beeping came from the console. At the bottom of the display of buttons there was a slot for his private Access Card. The terrace was above their private floors therefore he needed his card to reach it. He had to keep it on him otherwise he’d be locked out, he pulled it out of his pocket and tried the button again. The elevator sprang to life and started to ascend. 

It let him out at the corridor that led to the roof. There were a few flights of stairs to climb but that was ok. He was soon at the top of the stairs and pushed down the handle on the emergency door. As far as Steve knew this was the only door that wasn’t hooked up to the fancy electrical system that was running throughout the Tower. He went through the door and walked into the middle of the rooftop, it was late afternoon in winter so it wouldn’t be long until the stars came out as it was already getting dark. He turned back for a second when he heard the door slam shut behind him, but ignored the loud noise in favour of gazing across the skyline. 

A few floors down, the elevator doors finally closed and moved back down towards the central floors; with Steve’s access card still in the panel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later on that evening, Tony stuck his head out of his lab door and looked both ways down the corridor. He knew Pepper was on the warpath due to that dickhead Alexander roaming his halls earlier and he’d called for her to deal with it. She should be back with Steve now, which left him with a problem. Either wait until Pepper handed him off to someone else or face her. He decided to check and see where she was first; if it was the kitchen then that would be avoided. 

“J? Where’s Pep? And on a scale of one to ten, how much trouble am I in?” He went over to the main console to scan for her and came up with nothing.

“Sir, Miss Potts left precisely 6.4 hours ago and has currently just checked into our headquarters in Atlanta. And on the trouble scale I would rate this a wary 7.5.” Tony frowned at this, Today Pepper wanted to take care of Steve, obviously she would’ve given him to one of his Daddies but she always returned for him when business was done. He took out his phone. 

“Whoa Pep, what gives? I thought you were with Steve today but you’ve just checked in at our Atlanta HQ?” He heard her sigh on the other end of the phone.

“Yeah, I’m in Atlanta cleaning up the mess that you let me deal with this morning, thanks for that by the way. I asked Steve if he could age up or go find one of his Daddies. I assume he went to Bruce… He did, didn’t he?” 

“I don’t know, I’ll check with Bruce, when did you-“ There was the sound of someone talking to Pepper down the other line.

“-Tony, I’m sorry I’ve got to go. Keep me informed.” She clicked off, leaving Tony in silence with an uncomfortable twisting in his gut. He got up and went to find Bruce, hoping that his boy was with him. He walked into the lab, a wave of cool recycled air hitting him in the face. He found Bruce hunched over a workbench, looking intently at his Starkpad. He startled when Tony popped into his eye line with a look of worry on his face and his eyes darting around his surroundings.

“Tony? Hey… Are you alright?”

“I-Is Steve here? He’s in here just playing right? Stevie? Stevie baby, come out here.” Tony called. Bruce placed his hands on Tony’s shoulders and looked him in the eye-assessing whether or not he’d been drinking.

“No, Steve’s with Pepper this afternoon remember?” He placed his hand on Tony’s forehead, feeling for a temperature, which was shrugged off.

“Pepper had to leave, he told her he was old enough to come find one of us and she suggested I try to find you. We’re the only two in right now but you’re normally his go-to. So… he’s not here?” Bruce shook his head and paced.

“Alright, well he can’t have gotten far. Maybe he aged up completely and went out for a walk.” It was now Tony’s turn to shake his head.

“No, that against the rules, he has to tell us when he ages up so we don’t go crazy worrying about him when we can’t find him. Bruce… I’m really worried; we’ve got to go look for him. It’s dinner soon and I don’t think he’s eaten since breakfast... I think Pepper was going to take him to a late lunch. He must be starving. Come on.” Tony dragged Bruce out of his lab by his arm, not that Bruce needed to be dragged; he was getting quite worried himself. 

“If I may sir, My records show that Little Steve used his access card to go up to the terrace, the elevator came back down almost immediately so he has definitely not left the Tower.” That eased their worries a little bit but not massively. Steve was still little and Little Steve didn’t do well on his own. 

“Alright J.A.R.V.I.S can you do me a favour? On all our private floors broadcast this message: Steve, Love-bug. We’re looking for you. Where are you? Just tell J.A.R.V.I.S where you are and we’ll go get dinner okay? You can pick. Just shout to J.A.R.V.I.S, baby.” Bruce finished and he and Tony stood still, holding each other’s hands, hoping that Steve would make his presence known.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steve shivered violently as he sat with his back to the emergency door on the roof. He’d been up here for hours and it was really dark and cold. He didn’t like the dark but he especially didn’t like the cold. He has realised pretty soon that the door wouldn’t open from this side and he needed help. He softly began to cry into his knees as he wrapped his arms around them. He was so scared. He desperately wanted his Daddies, he should’ve just gone to see Daddy Bruce like he was supposed to… but he wanted to explore! And now he’s being punished for it. He jumped sharply when a voice could be heard beyond the door form the emergency speakers in the hallway. He cried with relief when he heard who it was.

“Steve, Love-bug. We’re looking for you so just tell J.A.R.V.I.S where you are and we’ll go get dinner okay? You can pick. Just shout to J.A.R.V.I.S, baby.” 

“H-here, Daddy. I’m here. Help! I’m c’ld and want cuddle! D-ddy!” His teeth were chattering and he pounded on the door but no-one came. He sank back to his original position and wailed. 

“Daddies!! Help! Cold!… No m-more ‘splorin!” Steve’s panic was now tenfold following this. His Daddies had obviously known he had not done as he was told and now they’re leaving him to die in the cold. He didn’t want to be cold. He was such a bad boy, they wouldn’t want him now and this was his punishment. Tears streaked down his face which were caught by the icy breeze of the evening.

Steve’s shaking started getting worse and the rate of his breathing rose along with it. This was just like last time, he thought. He was in the ice again. Maybe he never left. Images flashed before his eyes. 

**Red Skull**

**Cold**

**Ice**

**Bucky**

**Silence**

**Death**

Steve was stuck in his own head trying to shake the fear that crippled him. His lips were turning blue and he was having trouble getting air into his lungs. It felt as though a big elephant was sitting on his chest. He was trapped in between his frightened little headspace and his traumatised adult mind. He wrapped his numb arms around himself tighter, gazed at the stars and begged for his Daddy Thor to help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun-Dun-Dun. Cliffhanger! :) Sorry but hopefully the conclusion will be up soon. As I’ve mentioned before I’m struggling at the moment and I’m really trying I promise.
> 
> Anyone get the Easter egg?  
> Drop me a line if you did! Just slipped it in, nothing of import just a little easter egg for those who get a kick out of that stuff.


	6. F is for Flashback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Continuation of E is for Exploring. Thor hears Steve’s plea, but can his Daddies save him from his mind?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so Sorry!!! It’s been too long and I am very repentant and ashamed. Had a rough few weeks but I’m back in my groove now! So here is the conclusion to the last chapter and don’t worry; there will in no way shape or form be a month gap between chapters. Pinky Swear!  
> Also, no-one got the Easter Egg so I’m not going to say what it was ;) I’m evil. I’m still so grateful for you’re feedback and kudos, you’re all sweethearts. xx

The Crown Prince of Asgard reclines in his chair, waiting for his brother to be escorted into the chambers. They are meeting to discuss his punishment and probation. Heavy oak doors swung open, bringing with it the sound of clattering chains, shackled around bloodied ankles and wrists. 

Thor rose as sharp green eyes locked with his through tangled, greasy, black hair. He almost flinched as a sneer containing decades of hatred and jealousy was concentrated at his very soul. One of the guards flanking the prisoner kicked the bend in his knee with a sadistic smirk, causing him to fall to his bony knees as Thor voiced his outrage at the action.

“That is quite enough! My brother may be a prisoner in the depths of this palace; you will not however, forget that he once walked the halls as your future ruler and my equal. He may now wear shackles rather than silk but you will not forget your place nor his.” Thor growled.

“Y-yes, My Lord. My apologies.” The guard stuttered, while backing out of the room with the other to return to their posts. Thor turned his attention to Loki and attempted to raise him from his knees. His offered hand was ripped away from the shoulder it lay on.

“My place, _brother_ is nowhere but shackled and at your knees. I do believe that it was you who put me in this position, not that brute of a guard; so you will not forget _your_ place.”

Thor sighed and made his way over to the couch adjacent to Loki’s ‘place’ on the floor. He ran his hand across his chin, starching wearily at his stubble. He had hoped, rather foolishly in hind-sight, that Loki’s demeanour would have improved once the Allfather had read his charges. This was not the case. Rather, the more the Allfather read, the more the Trickster withdrew into himself with what Thor hoped was remorse; that hope had probably been in vain. Loki had been brought before the Court and charged but had yet to be sentenced, instead leaving him to the mercy of his guards. Thor was loathe to admit it but the justice fulfilled, that had been laid out centuries ago by the Allfather, was truly monstrous and unrelenting. Thor truly hated to see his brother in such pain while he himself flourished with his new family on Midgard. 

“Do not make the mistake Loki, of thinking that I enjoy seeing you in such a state. It makes my heart weep to see you huddled in the corner of your cell for days on end.” Thor snapped, making Loki’s head snap to meet his brother’s eyes just as quickly.

“Do not think that you are only at the mercy of the Allfather. As close to Midgard as I am, The Allfather has passed down your sentencing to me. I can free you from your shackles but I cannot free you from the guilt and remorse that tortures you, despite the cloud of indifference you attempt to shroud yourself in.”

He rose once more and knelt in front of his brother. Loki was wearing naught but rags which contrasted to his blindingly pale skin. The purple bags under his eyes belayed his snark. Thor could see right through him with decades of practice he had gained in his childhood, coupled with the weeks of patience he had gained with Steve’s ‘second childhood’. Both sets of memories he cherished and thanked the stars for the opportunity to experience them. He could hear Loki’s laboured breathing as he knelt forward to clasp his hand. He himself took a deep breath before revealing his decision to his brother.

“Loki, while I am not as brutal and unforgiving as Father-“

“- _Your_ Father.” A raspy voice contradicted.

“Loki.” The blonde god sighed.”Enough of this. I am your brother and you are mine. You may refute this until you are blue in the face”-which earned a snort-“However, You are my _family_ and you do not give up on family. On Midgard, I have… gained another family of sorts-no, yes. They are my family and we are so happy, all of us. One day I would wish you to be a part of this family. Please-“

At that moment a different guard burst through the door, startling both princes. 

“Sire, my apologies but word has been sent from Heimdall that you are needed at the Bifrost. Immediately.” The guard was bent over his knees panting while still trying to maintain a respectful stance; something that made Loki silently smirk.

“What does this concern?” Thor was still kneeling in front of his brother but his gaze was fixed on the guard.

“He did not say much, My Lord. He said it concerned a matter of grave danger for someone who you care very deeply for on Midgard.” That caused Thor to swiftly rise but not before Loki caught the quiet gasp of “Steve” before he stood. He dismissed the guard to tell Heimdall he will be with him quickly and turned back to Loki. Before he could get out a word Loki beat him to it.

“Yes, brother do not let me keep you. You must return to your family; to your whore and leave me to rot as you see fit. Now, leave me.” His tone was sad but sharp and Thor did not have the time to reassure nor scold Loki. Therefore he levelled him with his best-unbeknownst to Loki- ‘Daddy’ glare and turned his back to rush to Heimdall’s call.

Heimdall’s golden eyes glinted as he stood before Thor. The God of Thunder had clearly ran as fast as he could across the kingdom with what looked like an ache in his heart for both his brother and his endangered charge. 

“Heimdall, what is this matter of urgency? You must tell me; is it Steve?” Thor felt frantic with worry. Something told him that Steve was in danger and he couldn’t bare that thought.

“My Lord. The *ahem* Migardian in your… _care_ is in great distress and is calling for you. This would normally be not of much import due to the past frequent calls of distress from Miss Foster. There is however, something… different here. I do not mean to pry or talk out of turn My Lord, I felt that you are needed there more than here. I apologise for the interruption but I fear for the Captain. I will send you back immediately.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steve was violently shaking with the force of the memories bombarding him. He whimpered as another harsh breeze whipped at him. 

He was going to die up here. No-one cared, they should just let him die, like he let Bucky die, and Erskine and basically everybody he ever met. Peggy was dead, Howard. He had to pay for what he did and if that meant getting trapped in the ice where he belongs, then so be it.    
His mind was spinning out of control. He was lost amongst the ghosts of his past, begging for his family to come and find him. He was sorry for exploring on his own. He was so sorry.

“Sorry… s-rry…so-rry.” He mumbled over and over again as darkness encroached his vision. 

Steve’s body was beginning to shut down due to the overexposure of the cold. He had stopped shivering and felt very sleepy. Suddenly lightening split the sky and thunder shook the earth with a sickening crack, making Steve flinch. He could hear a faint rhythmic banging before the thunder became too loud. As his eyes slipped closed the last thing he saw was his Daddy Thor landing on the terrace and his red cape billowing behind him as he rushed towards Steve. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thor rushed over to his little one as soon as he saw him; cowering next to a locked door. He could hear what was probably Bruce or Clint trying to break through but his main priority was Steve. He fell to his knees before the Captain and pulled him onto his lap trying to rub some warmth into his blue fingers. 

“Steve, sweetling. Wake up. Daddy’s here, I heard you, Daddy heard you. Wake up, love.” He chanted over and over again, not stopping his movements as the door burst open.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce shouldered the door for the fifth time as it burst open, leading both him and Tony onto the terrace. 

“Tony, prop that door open so we can get back down and give me a hand.” Bruce rushed over to Steve and Thor and fell to his knees in front of them. His eyes were open but he wasn’t seeing anything. This wasn’t his little boy, this was a man stuck in his own head, gripped by a flashback. Bruce examined him as best as he could, with him being in Thor’s lap and in a swift moment of relief and weakness leaned his head into Thor’s shoulder and took a deep breath.

“Thor, Thank God you’re here. How did you find him? How did you know he was in trouble?”Tony knelt at Bruce’s side and stroked Steve’s hair back while Bruce took Steve’s basic vitals again.

“Scratch that… no time. You can explain later. We have to get him warm.” Thor rose and brought Steve with him as all three men made their way off the roof, down the stairs and into the elevator. Tony took hold of Steve’s hand and almost dropped it when he felt how cold they were.

“Shit, Bruce. He’s ice-cold. We have got to get him to the med bay.”

The ride down to the medbay was most likely quick, but for the three men fussing over the practically unconscious man, it felt like a lifetime. Once they reached Bruce’s medbay they all sprung into action. Bruce began setting up the monitors and Tony did as instructed as Thor laid Steve down on the gurney and took his hand; reluctant to fully break contact. 

“Tony, I need to you get the warming blanket from the second cupboard and warm up some saline. We have to do this slowly, he has to warm up gradually otherwise his body will go into shock if we do it too quickly.”

Bruce packed the warm IV-bags of saline around Steve’s arms, legs and torso while Thor settled the warming blanket over him; which Tony tucked around him theatrically. They all took a deep breath and a moment to gather their thoughts after the rapid rush of the last 15 minutes.

“So Thor, buddy. How did you know Steve was in trouble?” Tony asked as they all settled down around the bed. 

“I was in Asgard, the Allfather has called for me to sentence Loki myself, for his crimes. That is why I was there; I was about to give Loki my decision when Heimdall demanded I return as Steve was in peril.”

“Well, thank God for Heimdall. Remind me to buy that guy some flowers.” Tony said causing Bruce to smile and Thor to chuckle. 

“I shall pass on your gratitude, my friend. I am thankful that I am not too late. How did he end up in such a state?” There was no heat or accusation behind his last question, just sorrow on Steve’s behalf.

“He was with Pepper but she got called away. He must’ve wanted to see some of the Tower on his own and he got stuck on the roof. He’s been out there for hours. We couldn't find him anywhere.”

“Sneaky little guy.” Bruce muttered affectionately as eventually Steve began to stir with a soft groan. All three men were on their feet in a flash.

“Steve? Can you hear me, honey?” Tony cooed, while stroking his blonde hair. Steve opened his eyes and immediately came back to himself; so quickly infact that his mental age flew straight up into his ‘normal’ big state. All three men could see it in his eyes although none of them stopped their nervous hovering or physical comfort.

“G-Guys? What happened?” Slowly the events of the last hour came back to Steve and the three men at his bedside had to settle him back down as he rose up in his haste.

“I’m sorry! I just wanted to see the stars and I knew I was still little and should’ve come straight to one of you when I left Pepper but I wanted to see the stars and then the door slammed and I probably could’ve bust the door down but I couldn’t because I was little. Thor! Buddy I’m so sorry I called you back and Bruce! Tony! God I’m sorry you were all working and I-“ During this nonstop rant Tony, Thor and Bruce had tried to but in to stop him to no avail, until Bruce laid his palm over Steve’s mouth, cutting him off mid-plea.

“That’s enough, Steve. There is no need to apologise, you were little and we should make sure you’re never alone. Pepper should’ve brought you to us or you should’ve come straight to the lab when she left. The fact that you wandered the Tower on your own when you were little was very naughty and you will get a punishment for that later. Is that understood?” Bruce calmly waited for Steve’s nod before continuing. “We were so worried, are you alright now? Your core temp is stabilising but I still want to monitor you for a while. You’ll probably feel very achy and tired for a while but that can also be contributed to your flashback/panic attack too. Is there anything you want to talk about?” Steve looked into his friends and part-time caregivers eyes and only saw worry and relief not anger. 

“I-I’m sorry. I thought you’d be really mad and you’d hate me! Because I’m a screw up and I deserved to die. Everybody else is dead; Bucky, Peggy, Erskine… Howard. I just thought it’d be better if you left me there to freeze again. I’m sorry… I’ll take my punishment, I promise. I’m so sorry.” Steve’s speech dwindled off into mumbling as he was slowly consumed by bone deep exhaustion.

“Shhh, Don’t apologise. We love you, Steve. Big or little, we love you. Now sleep and we’ll be here when you wake up.” Bruce murmured to the sleeping blonde.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  So there we go folks. Just a quick disclaimer before my usual sign off. Thor and Loki’s relationship will not be sexual or incestuous in this. Nine times out of Ten Loki will probably end up in a relationship with an Avenger but it will not be Thor, maybe Bruce. Probably Bruce. But the focus will always be the family aspect and AgePlay so don’t worry I’m planning on expanding that in the sequel to this fic, which there most definitely will be :) Fear not this will not be the last we hear of Loki. X
> 
> As always, Comments and Kudos would be lovely if deserved. ;) x


	7. G is for Glasses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce had been through far too many pairs of glasses due to the Other Guy, never mind his own natural clumsiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Darlings. Sorry It's been a month since I updated! Bad Sam I know! ;) So this is the next chapter and I've just realised there are too many tears in this fic so the next chapter will be crying free! :) Hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Also for those guys and gals who read my other work Inner Peace, I'm hoping to get another chapter of that up in about a week or so. Maybe sooner. 
> 
> There we go. Enjoy! xx

*SNAP* The living room was silent following the groan that preceded the snap. Bruce knew that sound all too well. Sure enough, he stood up and reached in his back pocket to pull out his glasses, now in two halves.

“Uh-oh.” Steve said with wide eyes, from behind his hands. Clint looked up at the exclamation.

“Are they your-“

“-Yep.” Bruce sighed. He had been through far too many pairs of glasses due to the Other Guy, never mind his own natural clumsiness. 

“Uh-oh!” Steve exclaimed again, louder than the first. He anxiously twisted his hands together as he looked between his Daddies. 

“My f-fault Daddy?” Steve whispered. It was his fault that the glasses were broken. He had been laying across both Daddy Clint and Daddy Bruce as he took a nap, he had resettled his legs on Daddy Bruce’s lap and he must’ve been too heavy. 

_**Ofcourse you’re too heavy, you’re always too heavy. Such a burden, now Daddy Bruce is going to have to buy some new ones. You’re such a big baby.**_

His eyes felt with tears as the voice niggling at the back of his mind became louder. It was right; he is always too heavy.

“I Sowwie Daddy.” Steve cried, leaning forward he crumpled from the couch to the floor. He squeezed himself into the smallest form possible and rocked side to side trying not the listen to the voice in his head. 

Clint and Bruce watched Steve close up into himself and slide to the floor, sobbing. They both slowly approached and each grabbed one of his hands. 

“Steve? Love-bug, what’s all this? I’m not mad, you didn’t do anything. What’s wrong?” They both leaned closer to make out the mumbling.

“Broked Daddy’s glasses.” He said between sobs. “Sowwie.” He lowered his head again and tried to curl tighter but was intercepted before he could. While still holding onto both of his hands, Bruce and Clint got Steve to uncurl and sit with his back towards the couch. The knees of his sweatpants were soaked with tears that still continued to fall. Clint looked at his baby boy. His face was bright red and screwed up from crying and his face was wet with snot and tears. It wasn’t a pretty sight and yet he had nothing but love for the boy. He shushed him and wiped his tears away with his thumb.

“No you didn’t. Daddy left them in his pocket which was silly. You didn’t do anything, I promise. Right, Daddy Clint?” Bruce kept his eyes on Steve but see Clint nod his head out of the corner of his eye.

“That’s right. You didn’t do this Little Guy. It was just a little accident. Now come on, let’s dry those baby blues.” Daddy Bruce took out his handkerchief-clean-which was then handed to Steve to wipe his eyes. 

Clint and Bruce each pulled on a clammy hand and resettled themselves on the couch with Steve in the middle. A few hiccuping breaths later, Steve appeared to be calming down. While Bruce wiped Steve’s face while whispering comfort, Clint pulled a big soft blanket from behind the couch and shrouded them all in it. 

“J.A.R.V.I.S, my man! Set up a movie would’ya? Anything Steve wants.” Clint prompted with a little nudge to his charge. 

Steve’s eyes stayed firmly on the blanket in his lap. He mumbled something unintelligible and both of his Daddies had to lean in closer to hear him.

“Broked Daddies glasses. Freak… Don’t d’serve movie. Shouldn’t have nice things. Stupid Steve…” 

Clint and Bruce recoiled as if they’d been slapped upon hearing the hurt seeping out of Steve’s heart. Clint and Bruce shared a look; Clint’s eyes widened as Bruce’s flashed green. Clint took charge of this one, he wouldn’t let anyone hurt his family. These intrusive thoughts were’t just hurting Steve they were hurting all of them. It killed them all when Steve was hurting and this was no exception.

“Alright, Darlin’. That’s enough now, come on. Stop those tears and I want you to listen to me.” 

Clint said in a gentle but firm tone. Steve sniffled and struggled to raise his eyes to his Daddy’s while Daddy Bruce rubbed broad strokes up and down his back, just watching.

“That’s better. Now I don’t know what is going on in that head of yours, but I need you to listen to Daddy right now, okay?” 

He waited for Steve’s hesitant nod and kissed him on the forehead when he got it. 

“Good boy. What happened today was an accident. You’re not in trouble and no-one is angry. Daddy Bruce breaks his glasses all the time, that’s why Daddy Tony makes him spares. So don’t you worry about that. You are not stupid, Steve. You are so brave and so clever and you should always remember that. Whatever is telling you that you’re stupid, you need to ignore. I can’t promise it’ll go away, but I can promise you one thing. Absolutely no-one is mad at you, for anything. We all love you so much sweet-pea and the idea of you hurtin’ makes us upset too. So I want you to make me a promise too. I want you to promise that when you feel angry or upset or anything bad you come to one of your Daddies to tell us. You will never get in trouble for that; ever. So do you promise?” At Steve’s nod Clint shook his head and clasped his hands with his boy’s. 

“No, Steve I need you to promise. Hey, I tell you what. Why don’t we pinkie promise?” Steve perked up at that and put a few of his fingers in his mouth. 

“Wha’s that?” He mumbled past his soggy fingers. 

“A pinkie promise,” Said Clint with a grin that matched Bruce’s. “Is a promise that is so extra specially sacred… that you can’t ever break it with anyone ever. You hold out you’re pinky like this… well done. And then I link mine with yours and say ‘I promise or else.” By means of Bruce manhandling Steve’s arm from out of the blankets, they linked pinkies.

“… I pwomise or else… o-or else what Daddy?” Steve asked hesitantly; afraid he was going to get told off. 

“Or else… shh… come closer…” Steve leant in really close to his Daddy’s face until he could feel his breath tickle his cheek. Bruce knew what was coming and braced himself with a grin.

“Or else… you… will… be… TICKLED!!!!!” Clint launched into an attack swiftly followed by Bruce who tickled the squealing boy to the carpet.

“Ah!! No no no no tickles Daddy! No! J.A.R.V.I.S! Daddy Tony!! Hwelp! Tickles!” Steve called for help against the pesky fingers tickling him expertly.  
Clint and Bruce laughed along with Steve as they went onto smother him with kisses and cuddles with the occasional tickles attack mixed in. They were just launching into another offensive when the living room doors burst open and Daddy Tony sprang in wearing black sweatpants and old Captain America t-shirt and Daddy Thor’s red cape. With his engineering goggles still on his head and grease smeared on his hands; he leapt into action.

“Fear not! It is I! The legendary Mighty Daddy! I hath come to save my poor Stevie from you tickle monsters!” 

He threw himself into the pile and began tickling both Clint and Bruce so that Steve could get away. 

“Ah! No! The Mighty Daddy! Help me, Daddy Clint- help me!” Bruce shouted between giggles. 

“You will never be a match for us, Mighty Daddy! Steve is ours! He looks good enough to eat. Mwuahahahahahahaha.” All of a sudden Daddy Tony stopped tickling the other two adults and all three of them turned to Steve. 

“I think you’re right. He does look tasty.” All three gave Steve a grin before they caught him as he tried to scamper away with another squeal. 

“No! Daddies! I don’ taste good! Pwomise!” Steve eyes widened when he realised what he said.

“Pinkie promise?” Daddy Bruce asked before they all covered him in kisses; leaving the four of them in a messy heap of limbs and cape, smiling together. 

If J.A.R.V.I.S were ever asked what had happened to the footage of that day. He would state he did not know; A system error of some sort. He would never admit that this footage would be archived under the name: ‘Tony Stark not only has a heart; he has a family.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always guys and gals, comments and Kudos would be lovely if deserved. 
> 
> :) xx


	8. H is for Holding Hands.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone searches for a hand to hold. Steve is never in short supply of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well Dammit. My apologies you lovely people. It has been months since I even touched this so this is a 5,000 word chapter. I'm leaving for uni tomorrow so when I get settled I will write some more. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this and keep a close eye on my other fic 'Inner Peace' which will be updated soon so hopefully this will tide you all over till then. 
> 
> Enjoy! xxx

In holding hands, you could illustrate just about anything that’s in your heart. Having a hand to hold is one of the most sought after things on this Earth. 

Little Steve was fascinated with the concept of hand-holding. He loved holding hands with his family; it made him feel loved. Not that he didn’t feel loved already as his family were far too good to him. However, Steve never felt safer than when he had a hand to hold; which was most of the time.

A hand to hold when he cried. A hand to hold as he slept. A hand to hold when he was getting a shot. A hand to hold when he played.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daddy Tony’s hands were smeared with motor oil regardless of however many times he washed them. 

Daddy Tony and Steve were curled up in his room ready to take a nap. Tony was lying on his back with Steve sprawled over him, his eyes drooping. Steve had his Daddy’s hand clutched tightly in his as he drowsily played with his fingers. Every so often Daddy Tony would make his fingers tense and jerk, making his little boy giggle softly. 

“You want you’re paci, honey?” Daddy Tony asked. 

Steve was feeling very little today. Daddy got up to get his paci while Steve squirmed with being in the big bed on his own. With every movement a soft crinkle could be heard as his diaper moulded itself into its new position. 

Daddy Tony returned with his Ironman pacifier. Steve opened his mouth so his Daddy could put it between his lips. He cooed while he resettled into his Daddy’s shoulder, his hands fidgeted with the handle until his Daddy guided his hands onto his tummy and linked their fingers. 

“Sleep now, Silly boy. It’s nap time.”

“D’ddy?” Steve mumbled through his paci.

“Yeah, Stevie?”

“Don’ go away, m’kay?” He whispered, sleep steadfastly beckoning him in.

“Of course not, honey. Daddy’s tired too. Who else am I gonna nap with, huh?” Steve felt warm hands squeeze his while a soft kiss was placed on his forehead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Uncle Phil’s hands were always cold. Steve knew it was because some people were warmer and some people were colder but he wasn't entirely sure why. Therefore, one rainy Thursday afternoon, he asked. 

"Uncle Phil?" Steve asked timidly. Phil turned towards the little in his charge with a frown, he sounded unsure.

"Yeah, Steve? Are you alright?" They were sat at the kitchen counter finger painting. Little Steve loved the freedom of finger painting, he liked that he could make a mess and not get told off. He was concentrating on his picture of a rainbow when he answered his Uncle. 

"Why are your hands always chilly?" He asked while reaching for the purple. Phil, a little startled by the strange question, passed him the paint and quickly thought about the age appropriate answer he should give. 

"Well, Buddy. Do you remember when I was in the hospital right after we first met?" At Steve's distracted nod, he continued. "Well, sometimes when people are sick they sometimes need some help to get better." He now realised he had Steve's full attention along with the attention of Tony, Clint and Natasha who were sat in the living room.

"What k'nd of help." Steve mumbled; his sticky paint covered fingers making their way you his mouth before they were intercepted and wiped clean.

"Well..." He quickly glanced over his shoulder at Tony on the couch, silently asking if it was ok to go into a little bit of detail, at the engineers nod, he took a deep breath. 

"Well, when I was in the hospital I had a bad boo-boo which caused me to lose a lot of blood." At that Steve's eyes widened to saucer proportions, causing Phil to be quick to reassure.

"It's alright, Steve. I'm fine, I'm here with you and everything is fine, ok?" He reached out and grabbed Steve's now clean hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"So, Mr Fury gave permission for the doctors to use a special kind of blood from a man called... Um... Mr Kree. What you need to understand about Mr Kree is that he is a very special man who ran at a very cold temperature. It's kind of like you, you're warmer than all of us aren't you? Well, that along with Mr Kree's cold blood means that my body runs colder now. And because you're always warmer, you can feel the difference more than anyone else. Do you understand?" 

Throughout Phil's explanation, Little Steve's face displayed the many thoughts whizzing through his head, causing the adults in the living room to chuckle at how cute their boy was. 

"I-I think so... Is it like when 'm sick and when Daddy Bruce and Daddy Thor put me in cold baths? It wasn't really cold but Daddy Bruce said because I was so hot, it felt chillier. You ok though?" He squeezed Uncle Phil's hand, as if he could keep him safe from the hospital forever.

"What do you think, huh?" With that Uncle Phil quickly jumped up and tickled Steve to the ground. The squeals of delight were quickly followed by a war cry from Daddy Clint joining the fray. The great tickle battle of Thursday afternoon was made more deadly by the cold fingers of Uncle Phil at Steve's sides.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daddy Thor’s hands made Steve sink deeper into his headspace. Steve was a big guy, he had big hands that usually dwarfed everyone else's, everyone except Daddy Thor. When he held Steve's hand it made him feel very little indeed. He loved the safety of his hand being held securely in another’s. Daddy Thor’s hands were so strong, they could do anything.

Steve was on his way to Daddy Tony’s workshop for the afternoon along with Daddy Thor. They left the elevator and strolled down the corridor hand in hand, Steve was bouncing with excitement.

“Can we colour when we get to Daddy Tony? Do you think he’ll colour with us? What should we do with Daddy Tony, Daddy Thor?” Steve was a little whirlwind of questions today. After spending the morning in a S.H.E.I.L.D meeting, he had been gradually ageing down since lunch and was currently at around 4-5. 

“I think Daddy Tony is finishing a project, so I think we’ll sit and watch from a safe distance and then I’m sure he’ll love to colour with us. We must be patient, sweetling.” 

Steve loved going to Daddy Tony’s workshop with Daddy Thor, they were both entranced by technology that neither had encountered before, no matter how simple. Usually, when Tony was busy he set Steve up in an interactive playpen he had made and had Dummy keep him occupied. Today, however, he was sure that Thor would keep wandering hands securely out of danger. 

They were greeted at the door by Dummy. Dummy tailed Thor and Steve like a puppy, they were the only two that didn’t take him for granted. They asked him how his day was going, if he wanted anything; they were never answered with anything but swift clicks and beeps but it was clear Dummy preferred them to any other of Tony’s visitors. 

As soon as they reached the workshop their collective smiles fell from their faces. The workshop was in tatters, the main workspace was a smouldering mess of twisted metal and unstable tools. Thor sprang into action, he secured Steve against the wall by the door while instructing Dummy to keep him there.

“Tony?! Are you there?” Thor bellowed over the crackling of live wires and the groan of settling metal, he hoisted himself up and over an overturned desk and pressed the panic button to alert everyone that assistance was required. Thor quickly did a quick scan of the workshop and located Tony about 50 feet away, unconscious and bleeding from a head wound under a beam. Just as he was about advance towards Tony, he heard familiar little whimpers that were sure to turn into heart-wrenching sobs if left unsoothed.

“Steve, little one. You need to stay right there, do you understand? Daddy Tony has had a little accident but I can see him, alright? I need you to stay exactly where you are and to let the others in when they get here.” He turned away from his pale and frightened boy to get to the fallen engineer. 

Bruce was the first to arrive; his lab being the closest to Tony’s and quickly gathered Steve into his arms.

“J.A.R.V.I.S! What the hell is going on?!” When he was met only with silence; Steve tearily mumbled something into Bruce’s shoulder, which he asked him to repeat. 

“ ‘Vis been getting a patch today. D’ddy Tony says yesterday.” Bruce shushed him and brought him outside of the lab, the air was thick with the smell of chemicals and burning.

“Sweetheart, Daddy has to go and help Daddy Thor, alright? You need to stay here and be really brave for me and we’ll be right out.” He left Steve hugging his knees in the corridor and reached Thor’s side. 

“What’s the situation?” He asked, kneeling beside Thor. 

“He is pinned. I can reach him but I will need you to pull him out while I lift the beam.” As they got into position, Tony groaned as his eyes fluttered. 

“Hnngnn. Guys? Wha’s goin’ on? Ow! Fuck… Goddamn it.”

“Shh, Tony. I know, you’re pinned under a beam and we’re going to get you out but I need you to stay still.” With a shaky nod, Tony took a deep breath and braced himself. 

“Okay, Thor.” Bruce had a good grip on Tony and braced himself to pull him out when Thor had the beam clear. 

Thor shifted his weight while he was on his knees. He placed his hands under the beam and lifted with all of his strength. It moved slowly but surely and with a short yelp from Tony and a groan from Thor, the beam was lifted and pushed to the side of the platform that Tony had been lying on. 

“DADDIES!” Thor and Bruce’s head span round along with Tony- as much as he could in his dazed state. Steve had re-entered the workshop and upon seeing three of his Daddies on the floor had gotten himself stuck trying to get to them.

He had fallen between an upturned desk and what looked to be a prototype of a new bot. His foot had obviously twisted in the wires at the feet and his arms were outstretched towards his Daddies. Thor was on his feet and in front of his boy in seconds. Bruce aided Tony in getting to the door; trusting that Thor would get Steve out of the workshop.

In reality Steve wasn’t really stuck, if he had aged up he could’ve gotten up in milliseconds; however, due to the fact that he was so little and upset, he needed help.

“D’ddy!” Steve whined. Thor looked down at the pitiful sight before him, he knelt down and untangled the wires from his feet and hoisted him onto his hip. His right arm sat under his bum and Steve had his left hand clamped in his. 

Clint and Natasha arrived within minutes of all four men exiting the workshop. Steve was sat on Daddy Thor’s lap, still clutching his left hand and worriedly glancing between Tony and Bruce who was tending to him.

“Clint, Tasha, please take Tony up to med bay-he’s fine-but he needs to rest.” The two assassins nodded and with a worried glance at Steve, each took one of Tony’s arms to guide him to the elevator. 

“Steve, I told you to stay outside, why didn’t you?” Bruce was crouched in front of Steve and Thor.

“C-Cause, D-daddy Thor is big and strong and I’s big and strong and I wanted to help a-and I messed up ‘cause I’s big but little and I’s sorry!” Steve wasn’t making a lot of sense but the more he spoke; the more worked up he got.

“Little one, slow down. You didn’t do anything wrong, although you shouldn't have gone back into the workshop when we told you to stay. That was not good, you must listen to what we ask you. We only want you to be safe.”

“Sowwie, Daddy.” Steve whimpered, clutching Thor’s hand with a death grip. “Don’t send me aw’y. P’ease Daddy, I’ll be good.” He wailed. 

“Of course we won’t send you away, little one. You are so precious to all of us. What can I do but vow that I will never leave you?”

“P’nky-promithe?” Steve lisped past the thumb in his mouth and extended his pinkie of the same hand. Thor frowned at the unfamiliar term and turned to Bruce to elaborate.

“A pinkie-promise, is a special kind of promise we make here that is more sacred than a blood oath.” At that Thor’s eyes widened at the gravity of the concept. “We link our little fingers and promise to never leave each other and then we are bound together. Right, sweetheart?” Steve nodded very seriously and the three of them linked pinkies which Thor then covered with his spare hand, keeping the promise safe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Auntie Pepper’s hands were always really soft. She said it was because she used a special hand cream to keep the wrinkles away.

“But you don’t have any w’inkles, Auntie Pepper. You’re the prettiest girl ever.” Steve exclaimed.

“Well, your Daddy Tony’s got you well trained, sweetie.” She said with a smile and a pinch to his cheek. 

His Daddies and Auntie Tasha were on a mission and because Steve hadn’t aged up -not for lack of trying- by the time they got dressed; he had to stay with Auntie Pepper. They were watching TV when Steve started to get bored and Auntie Pepper offered to play some games with him. At the moment they were playing patt-a-cake. 

They were sat across from each other cross-legged on the carpet in front of the fire. Whenever anyone went on a mission Steve always felt a phantom cold creep into his bones. He tried to stay warm as much as he could when he was little. He didn’t like the cold. If he was big then he was with his team so he could look out for them. It wasn’t until all his family were sat around the dinner table, safe and sound after a mission, that the cold grip on his heart started to thaw and he could breathe. 

A small shiver wracked his frame again, causing Pepper to frown. She knew that he wasn’t actually cold so there was nothing she could do to help. The only thing that she could do is keep him distracted enough until everyone came home for their mandatory Stevie cuddles. She refocussed her attention on the little in front of her. 

“Here, sweetie.” Auntie Pepper said and with a flourish wrapped a purple and blue fleecy blanket around his shoulders and tucked it all around him.

“But Auntie Pepper… now we can’t play ‘Patty-the-cake’.” Steve whined with a pout; fruitlessly trying to get untangled from the fleecy prison before he was intercepted. His blonde locks; free from any product but baby shampoo fell freely into his face. 

“It’s ‘Patt-a-cake’, Stevie. Hang on I’ll rearrange it so your hands are free.” She said with a chuckle.

She untucked the blanket and  flung it over his shoulders again but this time leaving his hands free.

"Now, let's try again." Pepper put both palms towards Steve and nodded for him to do the same, she gently started a slow rhythm of slaps and claps to go with the rhyme.

"Patt-a-cake, Patt-a-cake, Bakers man, Bake me a cake as fast as you can." Steve giggled along as Pepper then laid his palm flat and continued the motions she was taught when she was little. "Pat it, and prick it, and mark it with a P. And put it in the oven for Stevie and me." With a flourish she tickled him under the chin causing the giggles to increase tenfold.

"P for Pepper!" Steve chimed with a blinding smile.

"That's right, sweetheart. P for Pepper."

He flung himself forward into Auntie Pepper's arms. He really wished that his whole family could play with him, but until then, Auntie Pepper's soft hands carded through his hair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Daddy Clint’s hands were constantly moving. Steve always thought this was on purpose but sometimes when Daddy Clint wasn’t looking, he saw his hands shake on their own. When that happened, Steve always made sure to give Daddy Clint an extra few hugs. 

They were down in the archery range before dinner. Steve was stood 70 yards away from his target with his practice bow ready and aimed. Clint stood behind Steve and repositioned his arms and his stance. 

"Now remember, Darlin'. Back straight and your feet a shoulders width apart." With a smile at the look of concentration on his boy's face, Clint stepped back a few paces and watched.

Steve took a big breath. Daddy Clint always took lots of big deep breaths before he shot, so he waited until he was ready and then let the arrow go. 

On the back wall of the archery range, instead of there being a moving target or a smaller target to shoot; there was a mural of a forest. Steve had chosen the content of the mural after his fourth week in the Tower; sick of the metal and cement of the city and too uncertain to venture out on his own, Tony had offered to paint nature themed pieces scattered around their private floors.

"You next, Daddy! You next!" Steve clapped while his Daddy shook out his trembling hands. 

"Alright, sweet-pea. Stand back while Daddy gets ready." He said with a weak smile.

The night before, Clint had barely gotten an hour of solid sleep due to nightmares and intrusive thoughts bombarding him. He had hoped that an afternoon with his little Stevie would distract him enough, but as he picked up his bow and barbed arrows, his hands still lightly shook.

Steve obediently stood back while his Daddy took several measured breaths and on the third, he swiftly reached back to his quiver, aimed and then rapidly fired 4 arrows in quick succession.

Steve's eyes were as wide as saucers as the last of the arrows struck the back wall; hitting a rosy red apple hanging from one of the trees.

"Wow, Daddy!" Steve stayed where he was until his Daddy put the weapons down; he knew the strict rules of being down here. Once the bow and arrows were clear, Steve lunged for his Daddy and gave him a big congratulatory hug. His hug was reciprocated with a big squeeze from the archer.

"You were brilliant, Stevie! I'm so proud of you, Darlin'". He extricated himself from the little super soldier's arms and quickly snapped a picture of their shots on his StarkPhone.

"We'll show everybody and then put it on the fridge, yeah? I bet Auntie Tasha will be soooo impressed." He said with a ruffle to blonde locks. 

Steve's orange and green arrow stuck out like a sore thumb against the brown textured background of a tree trunk it had hit. Daddy Clint's arrow was jet black with polished silver barbs littering the shaft. He was trying them out for Daddy Tony before he made more. When he replaced his bow on the range wall, Daddy Clint turned to fill in the paperwork to sign their archery supplies back in. 

Steve knew that he was supposed to wait for his Daddy before they went to get the arrows but he wanted to do it himself. He walked behind the firing booths and skipped the 70 yards to retrieve his colourful arrow. He carefully twirled it in his fingers and turned back to the range. Daddy Clint still had his back to him so Steve reached out and grabbed one of his arrows, to help. 

As soon as he gripped the arrow's shaft, he yelped as the jagged barbs imbedded themselves in his palm. His own arrow clattered to the ground just as Daddy Clint reached his side.

"Stevie! What did I tell you? You have to wait for me before you get the arrows! Oh your poor hand! Right, stay still, don't pull, Darlin' please." Clint gently reached around Steve's other hand, which was grasping his wrist in an attempt to either pull away or stay still, and gingerly pushed a small catch near the head. The blades on the arrow quickly retracted into the shaft-for easy retrieval-taking tiny chunks of Steve's palm with it.

Once his hand was free, Steve dropped to his knees and clasped his bloodied fist to his chest and rocked back and forth.  

"Owwie! DADDY!" Steve screeched, not realising his Daddy was with him until he was impressively pulled into his lap.

"Shh, sweet-pea. Hang on, we'll get you sorted. I promise. You are such a brave boy, Steve." Clint pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and opened Steve's fist to dab away the already clotting cuts. 

Clint had a lot of experience with patching cuts to his extremities so he was pretty sure he wouldn't have to call Bruce to help; although he would definitely tell him once everything had calmed down. He stood them both up and took Steve to a small first aid station outside of the archery range which luckily, was unoccupied.

Steve's breathing, still littered with hiccoughs, slowed while he sat getting his hand wrapped up; even though the wounds would fade away within hours.

Daddy Clint held tightly to Steve's un-injured hand while his other softly rubbed circles along Steve's back. As his large frame shook from the lack of adrenaline; Steve knew he was safe in his Daddy's now steady hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Auntie Tasha’s hands were always quick. This was demonstrated as her left hand darted to catch the bottle of red nail polish Steve accidentally tipped over.

“Oops. Sowwie.” Steve said with a timid smile past the fingers in his mouth. 

He had been watching Auntie Tasha paint her nails. She always had pretty red nails. Even though he wasn’t alone with Auntie Tasha a lot; as his Daddies wouldn’t allow it for a while, but now when they were together Steve always had fun. He sat across from her watching the way she gracefully applied the nail polish.

She recapped the bottle and set it on the side. While holding the hand she had just painted up to blow dry, she ruffled Steve’s hair in an affectionate gesture. 

Natasha and Steve’s relationship was still relatively rocky; due to her less than graceful introduction to little Steve a few months previously. Even though his scars were more than fully healed, Natasha still winced when she caught a glimpse of where they were.

“That’s alright, Cчастье. Don’t worry about it, nothing spilled.” She put her quick drying nail polish back into her makeup box and gracefully rose to her feet. She then, reached down and helped Steve get up; who eagerly took the case from his Auntie and put it back in the right place in the living room. His socked feet sliding on the hardwood floors that graced Natasha’s rooms, Steve made sure the box was on the shelf properly and wouldn’t fall. Steve loved being helpful; his Ma had always told him that; the strongest men didn’t always have muscles but had manners. 

He scampered back to Auntie Tasha, but just before he reached her at her kitchen island; his special Ironman socks slid his feet too far to keep his balanced and he began his swift decent to the floorboards. Not before, however, Auntie Tasha darted out her perfectly manicured hand and quickly grabbed and tugged at Steve’s wrist, righting him before he cracked his head. 

Steve was plastered to his Auntie Tasha, frozen in shock of having almost fallen, who calmly rocked him to calm his deep breaths.

“Now, that was a little bit of a shock, wasn’t it Steve?” She kindly whispered into his shoulder. Upon feeling a small nod she pulled back to look at his red face.

“Well then, I guess it’s lucky that I’m always quick, huh?” She said with a smile as he hid his face in her neck for comfort.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daddy Bruce’s hands were warm and occasionally changed colour. His soft, sun tinted palms always radiated the warmth that was reflected in his chocolate brown eyes.

Steve sat on a tall stool at the kitchen island while Daddy Bruce had his hands in a bowl full of tomatoes. The red stained his fingertips. The soft sound of tomatoes squishing between his hands was interrupted with a squelch when another pair of hands joined in. He looked over his shoulder to see his little chef in training giggling at the messy food.

"I try Daddy? P'ease?" Steve softly muttered. Bruce frowned for a moment; Steve seemed to have regressed to a very young age following his nap, usually this was caused by something on the blonde's mind.

"Yeah, sweetheart. Of course you can." He said with a smile, stepping aside so that Steve could mush the tomatoes between his fingers. While Steve was concentrating on his task, Bruce brushed an errant strand of hair that had fallen into his eyes. 

"Are you alright, Steve?" When all he got was a small nod in reply, the brunette persisted.

"You know, love-bug. You can tell me-or any of your daddies- anything. You know that, right? If something's wrong I can't fix it until I know what it is." Steve had now removed his hands from the bowl and instinctively brought his thumb to his mouth. Bruce quickly grabbed his wrist and brought his hands to the sink. Steve watched as the red juice swam around in swirls down the sink, the adult in him thought it looked vaguely like blood.

"M'sorry, D-Daddy." Steve hiccoughed before he burst into tears. Bruce chuckled a little; Steve was such a sensitive thing especially when he was little. He guided his boy to his living room and sat down on the sofa; pulling Steve to rest against his chest as he sobbed.

"Now then, what's got you so upset, huh?" He slowly rocked his charge as he tried to calm down. 

"Did someone say something to you?" Bruce got a small shake of the head burrowing into his shoulder.

"Are you hurt? Any ouchies?" Again, another head shake. A small shiver ran through the man on his lap and Bruce immediately knew what the cause of his son's sadness was.

"Baby, did you have a nightmare at nap time?" A hesitant nod confirmed his suspicions and he inwardly cursed himself. Usually whenever Steve takes a nap, someone was with him but today Bruce had left the living room briefly to organise the ingredients for lunch; spaghetti.

"What was your nightmare about?" Steve whimpered but lifted his head with a furrowed brows.

"I-It was about y-you and d'dyy T-Tony. You... B-but not you, Daddy? Daddy T-Tony fell and...green." He finished with another whimper and re-buried his face in his Daddy warm shoulder.

It became very apparent early on, during the start of their age play, that Steve did not recall in detail who everyone was and what they all did on a daily basis. Therefore Bruce, Tony and Clint had decided that telling Steve about the hulk would scare him. Lately though, Steve nightmares of his past life had been mixing with his little memories and the memories of their first battle.

Bruce sighed and swept his unruly curls out of his eyes. He reached over Steve and grabbed his phone from the coffee table and sent a quick text to Tony.

Ten minutes of quiet sniffles and cuddling passed until Daddy Tony rushed in, concern etched in his face. Steve looked up upon his entrance and rushed into his arms; almost knocking both of them over.

"D'dyy!" The tears that Bruce had valiantly tried to sooth, we're back. Steve openly sobbed into the engineer's shoulder.

"What's wrong, honey?" Tony shot a worried look over Steve's shoulder at Bruce who stood and approached them. While rubbing his hand up and down Steve's back in small circles, Bruce moved closer to Tony's ear and whispered.

"He had a nightmare about the battle where you fell, he's confused about the big guy catching you. He knew it was me but he was really confused. Maybe we should tell him."Bruce sighed. "Come on, Steve. Let's go to the couch." They manoeuvred him out of the embrace and over to the sofa. Bruce and Tony sat down and then pulled Steve to lie over their legs while they kept up their comforting touches.

Steve looked at his Daddies with wide eyes; they looked worried. 

"Was I bad?" He mumbled past his thumb.

"No, of course you weren't. Daddy Bruce told me about your nightmare and I heard you were a little scared, huh? Is there anything you want to ask?" Tony took Steve's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Why Daddy big and green?" Steve asked.

"Well, do you remember Uncle Phil told you that you and him were different?" He waited for the nod before he continued. "Daddy's different too. I was... Sick a few years ago and when I got better I could get big and green when I'm angry. Do you understand?" 

"But... You never angry, daddy." Steve innocently replied causing the men he was cuddled with to chuckle. 

"Not with you I don't, my angel. You're perfect." He tickled Steve until they were all giggling.

"We can show you, if you want?" Tony asked. At Bruce's shocked stare he continued. "Bruce he'll be fine. We'll just go to the Hulk room. He can see in a safe environment; he wants to understand."

"He'll be petrified, Tony! He won't want to be near me."

"No Daddy! Don't leave me!" Steve sprang up and wrapped his arms around Bruce's neck.

"Shh, I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

Bruce was heartbroken that Steve thought he would leave him. He knew somewhere in his head Steve knew about the big guy and he didn't seem to have a huge issue with him. Bruce just didn't want to scare his boy; he and Tony had talked at length about this and had decided against it but perhaps now Steve and The Other Guy should meet.

"Alright." He quietly said to Tony, who bounced up and around the room like a spring; making Steve laugh and copy him. Bruce rose with a sigh and guided the two Tiggers into the elevator.

When at last they finally stood in front of the 'Hulk Room', Bruce entered through the large double doors and disappeared from sight. Sensing Steve's panic at not being able to see Bruce; Tony steered Steve to the observation window where they could see. 

When the doors slammed behind him, Bruce sat down in the middle of the floor and focussed on his breathing. He found that if he let The Other Guy out calmly, it wasn't as traumatic as a rage fuelled shift. He had removed his shirt and pants when he entered which left him in his stretchy boxers, he looked at Tony and nodded to him.

At the signal Tony turned a reluctant Steve around and away from the glass so he could focus.

"Steve, Daddy Bruce is going to turn now but we need you to just look at me while he does, ok?" Bruce didn't want Steve to watch him writhing on the floor in pain, they wanted to make this as peaceful as they possible could. 

"Okay, Daddy. D-does it hurt?" Steve asked while trying to take a peek over his shoulder; which was quickly thwarted by his Daddy turning his head back. 

"It does a little bit so you have to leave him alone."

The next few minutes were filled with sounds of groaning from within the vault. Tony had to psychically restrain Steve when a particularly painful howl came from Bruce.

When everything went silent, Tony peered through the window to see The Other Guy sat where Bruce had been. He turned to Steve and beckoned him over.

"Steve, this is Daddy Bruce. When he's green we call him The Other Guy. You want to say hello?" Steve nodded and approached the window, placing his palm on the glass with a smile.

"H-Hi, Daddy Green." Steve whispered and then turned to Daddy Tony to make sure that it was ok to say that. At the engineers laugh, Steve concluded that he did good. Daddy Green snorted and shuffled up to the glass to get a closer look at Steve.

"Little Star. Banner wants safe." Hulk growled. 

"He is safe, Big Guy. We're going to stay behind the glass alright. Don't worry." Tony reassured. Hulk and Bruce must've been worried that Tony would let Steve in with him- they were nowhere near that yet. 

Often when he was down here, J.A.R.V.I.S sent an alert to Tony to say the room was in use. The first few times he went to investigate, he was worried about Bruce, but as their friendship developed so did the activities that he and Hulk engaged in. They sparred-with Tony in the suit- Tony taught him games, they talked and sometimes Hulk just liked to sit and enjoy the fact that Tony wasn't running away or screaming. 

As Hulk approached the glass, Steve placed both of his palms on the window pane. Cocking his head to the side, Hulk tentatively put one of his own large warm palms on the glass; covering both of Steve's with its size. Steve compared their palms, Steve's was normally bigger. 

Even though it was bigger and green, Steve could still tell his Daddy's palm through the glass, worn and callused but no less soft or warm Although it was impossible, Steve was sure that he could feel the warmth Daddy Bruce's hand through the glass.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daddy Loki’s hands crackled with the energy of the universe. However, even with all that power coursing through his veins, Steve felt nothing but cherished in his arms...

... But that is a tale for another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go my loyal readers. Again I am sorry for the late update and for the liberty I have taken surrounding Kree core temp and Phil’s cold hands ;) Also everything with Natasha will be explained too. Everything i do i do for a reason. ;) x
> 
> FYI for those confused as to why there’s a Daddy Loki now, when we or Steve haven’t even met Daddy Loki yet. These stories are out of order. Just little snippets of Steve’s little life. Don’t worry though, a Daddy Loki Genesis Story is coming soon. Perhaps with ‘L’. 
> 
> I hope this read ok. Not too confusing I hope? All will become clear. ;) x
> 
> As always my lovelies Comments and Kudos would be lovely if deserved.


	9. I is for Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something has been stolen, no member of Steve's team is beyond suspicion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I am so sorry I have neglected this and I'm back!! Uni is AMAZING so I've been a bit busy but we shall resume with our ABC's.   
> This is just a short chapter but there will be more!!!! :) x  
> Enjoy. x

Steve Rogers paced the length of his living quarters. His attention was solely focused on the 5 team members, under his command, before him. His posture was stiff; it would be clear to anyone that the super soldier was getting ready to formally dress down his comrades. After a minute of Steve's footsteps echoing off of the walls, he came to a halt in front of the main instigator. Steve looked into seemingly unaffected glassy eyes and sighed; there was always something with this one. 

"Sgt B. Bear." Steve announced to the room."I have received Intel that at 18:00 hours this afternoon; a packet of gummy bears was stolen from the kitchen, that were essential for an upcoming mission. Said mission is of course operation 'bake Daddy Thor a cake'. Stolen along with these gummy bears was four packets of sherbet; intended for the same purpose."

Steve began his pacing again eyeing up each and every member of his team. Sgt Bucky Bear was his second in command, not only his best friend but he knew all the best hiding places. Private Sammy Snake was their recon girl. Although she made her living from blending into the background and being unseen, she always attracted the attention of Auntie Tasha who had the same hair style and colour. Logan the Wanderer was a ferocious fighter with a sharp temper; he didn't always come on missions, because he was rather big but when he did, he was a big hitter. JJ, or J.A.R.V.I.S Jr, was a late edition to their crew. Daddy Tony made JJ after Steve had accidentally gotten lost in the Tower and could find his Daddies. Daddy Tony said that as long as he keeps JJ with him, he'll always have an open comm link to his family. Finally Agent Fenrir had all of the stealth and grace of the powerful pack of wolves he came from. Fenrir was Steve's second best friend, not only because he looked cool but he was the very first present Daddy Loki gave him; he even said he and Fenrir had had many adventures when he himself was little.

Steve rounded on Logan who had a suspicious stickiness to the underside of one of his claws that had a distinctive 'gummy' texture. 

"I know you had something to do with this, soldier! You were under strict instructions not to engage the target and yet you did anyway. What if Daddy Clint had caught you? I'd get in trouble because I'm in command.This is unacceptable and I, for one, don’t think a timeout is enough of a punishment.”

He reached into the small overalls Logan the Wanderer was wearing and pulled out 3 very tacky gummy bears. In reaction to an imagined group gasp from his team, Steve solely nodded and levelled his team member with a firm stare.

“I’m afraid you know the drill, Logan. Front and centre.” He ordered, grabbing the bear by his paw and dragging him towards the couch. Steve sat briskly and pulled the brown uniformed bear onto his lap and paused before he began the spanking.

“I only do this so that you will learn, Soldier.” Steve said mournfully; he had only ever been spanked once and he knew how awful it was. He checked for more contraband before beginning the punishment, 9 quick slaps rained down upon Logan the Wanderers backside.

Suddenly as his hand was about to make its final descent, he was startled by a flash of light followed by a chuckle. 

"Daddy!" Steve pouted. "I was playing! Don't emba'ss me in front of my teeeeam!" He finished with a huff. 

Strong arms wrapped around his shoulders as a kiss was pressed to his cheek. 

"You are just too cute buddy; I couldn't resist! Look at you playing Soldiers with your teddy bears. I have never seen anything so precious in all my days." Clint finished with a grin as his boy wiped his kissed cheek with the back of his hand and grumbled. 

"'M not cute." He crossed his arms and stared at the floor, forgetting the packet of gummy bears that were getting warm and squishy in his back pocket.

"Oh yes you are, Darlin'. Cute as a button. Anyway hup-to, Captain. I do believe we have a cake to decorate with warm butt-shaped gummy bears." Daddy Clint answers, swiftly taking the packet out of Steve's pocket to throw them towards the kitchen. As his little boy scuttled after his prize Clint took a moment to appreciate everything he had in his life.

"That boy is going to kill me." He mumbled with a smile.

"But you wouldn't have it any other way, right?" Said a stealthy Bruce who came up behind him and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"Right." He answered in a heartbeat. Upon hearing their summons of 'Daddy!!' from the kitchen, Bruce and Clint braced themselves for the sherbet-sprinkled mess of a man they were about to encounter.  

This left Steve's team still standing at attention; waiting for their next important mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go, a little bit of cute to wet your appetite. I have not forgotten Inner Peace either; both stories shall resume with regular updates this week. x
> 
> As always my lovelies, comments and kudos are lovely if deserved. :) x


	10. J is for Juice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fallout from a recent battle upsets Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god!! It's been almost a year since I updated this!! I'm so sorry. 
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoy this little chapter.

Concrete dust billowed around him as he quickly dove out of the way of a falling building. Steve rolled clear of the debris, taking only a moment to grieve the loss of another segment of the New York skyline he loved. He readied his shield and threw it and watched as it bounced off of-and simultaneously knocking out-several of their armed assailants. 

Yet again another group of ‘Big Bad’ had decided that today was the day that they must rule the world-or a very small corner of Manhattan. Their black garb adorned with a mysterious and solitary red rose held no clue as to who they were. The team had been going about their own individual errands when the alarm had sounded. They were all equally surprised when it hadn’t been Doom or Ross or any other asshat, but a new flavour of the month; that had graced them with their presence. Who they were at the present moment was not particularly important as Steve took down two more and with a quick glance to Tony, saw him dispatch another 5 with various pieces of prototype tech.

“Widow, there’s three more to your left behind that bus! Hulk, be careful of those building supports, we don’t want this whole thing coming down on us! Tony, what the situation looking like from up there?” Steve dodged another gut-punch and returned the favour. 

“The two- oh i mean one- ok, our resident red haired beauty has taken care of the ones on your level, and as far as my sensors are picking up, Birdy’s finishing up with the last two hostiles.”

It was pretty clear that wherever these guys were coming from, they were quickly retreating. 

“Alright, S.H.E.I.L.D can handle the clean up lets finish up here, everyone check-in!”  


“Here _sir_ , here, I am present, Hulk here.” The voices came through his earpiece in quick succession, all but one. Steve checked the connection and tried again.

“Hawkeye. Check-in.” Silence.

“Hawkeye. Report.” Still silence. While the rest of the team were slowly readying to head back to the Tower, upon hearing their Captain’s repeated request they began to worry. 

“Alright, Hawkass! Very funny, now get down here so I can shower.” Tony called. Without any prompting they all split up to search for their missing teammate. Tony fired his repulsors, briefly, before landing where he had last seen Clint. His perch hadn’t been particularly high, but its strategic position meant that he had a clear line of sight on every member of his team and subsequent hostile. 

“J? Heat sensors!” Tony ordered, quickly scanning and discovering where Clint was lying under half a rooms worth of ceiling from the hallway above. A few strategic repulsor blasts freed the archer from his dusty tomb, along with a partly crushed, but still alive, enemy. Tony reached in and tapped Clint lightly on the cheek, immensely happy when he immediately stirred and woke. 

“Goddamn, fucking asshole. Who the hell throws a grenade towards a load bearing pillar.” He spat toward his woozy attacker, while he began to push himself up and our of the rubble. 

“Hey, man. What’s happening?” He asked his saviour while untangling his feet from cables and concrete chunks.

“Ah, well. Not much, went for coffee, picked up my dry cleaning, the usual.” Tony casually recounted which was answered with a snort.

“Yeah right, like you’ve ever set foot in a dry-cleaners, Mr ‘throw it out and I’ll buy you a new one. I can’t even- OW.”  
Clint covered his eyes just in time as a repulsor beam shot straight past his face to the enemy responsible for that ‘OW’. Not much was left of what was clearly someone’s last ditch effort to fuck up Clint’s day but he still took a chunk out of his calf. No- it wasn’t a chunk it was-.   


“Jesus… Is that a thorn? Wow, that’s really theatrical. First the rose emblem and now they’re shooting thorns at people?” Tony remarked as Clint straightened and immediately slumped to one side. A dull thunk was heard as Tony quickly dove for him and Clint’s head connected with the iron plating of Ironman’s chest. 

Tony shouted into the comms that they needed a med-evac and quickly picked him up bridal style and gently placed him where they were before they realised his absence. Steve paced as he looked at Clint’s pale face, he had heard them both snarking on the comm and then something happened. He felt guilt and shame rush through him, his mind screamed that this was his fault, that he should take better care of the people he loves. His train of thought was quickly interrupted.

“Damn it, Clint. Has he been unconscious the whole time?” Bruce asked as he knelt next to the archer who was stirring to get up.

“Get away, I’m fine. And don’t think I won’t forget that bridal carry dickhead, I swear revenge!” Clint said as Tony replied and explained what he’d seen. The archer waved away any concern with one of his signature smiles but with his whole team worryingly crowded around him, he could admit to himself that he didn’t feel particularly great. 

Bruce prodded the impact site in Clint’s calf and while taking some vitals deemed that whatever had happened didn’t have to be treated in the field. The doctor stood, wearing only his emergency pants that Thor carried and directed Clint into the back of their Quinjet which had been flown to their position.

After making sure everyone was accounted for, Steve boarded the Quinjet and sat. The quick flight back to the Tower always felt like years when one of his team was injured. As he watched Clint sleepily snuggle into Bruce’s side, Tony rose from his seat and took the one next to him.

“Not your fault, y’know.” He stated while fiddling with the red and gold helmet in his lap. “Coulda’ happened to any of us and noone could see it coming. We’ll get him to medical and we’ll figure it out, yeah?” Tony said softly with an upward inflection to his voice. 

He could see that the Captain was upset that a member of his team was hurt but he could also see that Stevie was upset that Daddy Clint had gotten hurt. The tow headspace were wearing in his head and it must’ve been so confusing for the poor guy, they were all really close as a family, but he didn’t want to unnecessarily anger Steve by treating him like a child when he didn't want it. Steve lifted his head and looked at the billionaire, the vulnerability that Tony ad seen was quickly shuttered off as the Captain returned.

“We’ll debrief later in the week, I’m sure Fury will want a full report.” With that sharp reply he rose from his seat and headed for the cockpit, not without a quick glance at their fallen archer as he passed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Plates clattered to the table as Steve prepared the places for dinner. It had been a few days since the battle and Steve had managed to keep a distance from everyone during that time, that was until J.A.R.V.I.S informed him of the team dinner he’d planned last week and forgotten to cancel. 

He had considered cancelling but then that wouldn’t be setting a very good example as leader, plus he should really check in with everyone.  
Bruce began to bring the food to the table while the room slowly filled with their strange cosy little family. Thor took his usual place next to Tony while Bruce sat opposite Steve and Natasha. Steve glanced to his left; the seat was empty. He tried to clear his mind- Clint was fine, he was in medical and he would be back in a few more days. He passed the bread to Phil who was piling food on two plates. Just as he was about to question the Agent, the final dinner guest arrived.

“Jeez, Cap. I know I’ve been gone a few days but you really couldn’t wait to start without me?” The archer swaggered- as much as he could with crutches and took his usual place next to the Super Soldier. Clint had looked better but he looked a damn sight more normal than when Steve had seen him last; on the Quinjet. 

Conversation about each other’s days started up around the table while food was served, all the while Steve stared at the man next to him fiddling with the chop sticks on the table. 

“Y-you… when? I-I didn’t-“ Steve shut himself off when a tiny tremor ran through his voice. He cleared his throat and snapped his gaze to his plate while mechanically spooning food into his mouth. 

“Yeah…me. Didn’t anyone tell you I was getting released today?” Clint thought out-loud(he was still on some of the good meds).

Despite all of the warring emotions going through Steve, he had to admit that the curry they were eating was amazing. Bruce never let anyone watch him when he cooked, a rule that little Steve was exempt from only because he was usually too busy playing in the sink to notice what exactly his Daddy was doing. He reached for another naan bread and then his glass, it was empty. He picked it up and gestured to Thor who was the closest to the bottle of wine.

“Thor, juice please?” Steve asked as he took another mouthful of curry. The whole table stopped and turned to look at Steve. The super soldier of course noticed this and scanned the faces of the people round the table for the problem. 

“Ju’ce?” He asked again, noticing his throat was a little tighter than before; he really needed a drink. 

From the other side of the table Tony swore under his breath and dashed to the kitchen. Thor in a kind of daze stopped himself before he poured Steve another glass of wine. Just as he was about to ask for the third and final time, a purple sippy cup was thrust under his nose by Clint. He furrowed his brow. He hadn’t asked for that. He wasn’t little right now. He just wanted some Goddamn wine and then to go to bed. 

The cup under his nose waggled slightly and Steve attempted to turn a glare to the offender; his Daddy Clint. However, as soon as he locked eyes with his absent care-giver, Steve slipped all the way down, all but collapsing to the floor, knocking the cup over, taking a big deep breath and letting our a very un-Stevie-like wail. The whole room exploded into action. 

Steve found himself cradled between his bandaged Daddy and his Daddy Bruce; Bruce checking for injuries to account for the outburst and Clint whispering reassurances into his baby’s ear.

“Oh, Darlin’! Don’t cry! What’s the matter?” Clint’s leg was burning, he could barely thin straight but the only thing that mattered was his boy.

“D—d-addy. Gon-ne.” Steve stuttered between breaths. Tears streaming down his ruddy cheeks as he was sympathetically cooed and fussed over by everyone in between arguing with each other.

“You said you told him! Damn it, Tony, Didn’t anyone check on him?!” Clint hissed.

“I told J.A.R.V.I.S. to tell him, Clint. I swear!”

“Jesus! Why didn’t he know then?!” 

“J?!”

“Steve had his floor on lockdown and told me not to inform anyone, he also muted me, so I could not relay the message. As he was not in danger, I saw no reason to deny him privacy for a few days.”

“This! This is why J! New protocol will be written up in the morning!” Tony called towards the ceiling as Steve began to calm down.

“My friends, I fear this is not good for young Steven to hear. Sweetling, why don’t you come with me?” Thor reached his hand out but Steve clung to Clint tightly.

“Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy.” Steve murmured under his breath over and over. Clint’s legs were screaming in pain, he had to get off this floor soon, but the catatonic mumbling was worrying. He just needed to hang on a little longer and then they could all cuddle on the couch.

“Uh- Clint-?” Phil was cut off by a swift wave of the archer’s hand, not looking at the Agent. If he had, he would’ve seen the remaining white edges of his bandages blossoming red at an alarming rate.

“Daddy’s here, sweet-pea. Everyone is. I’m so sorry this happened, but it will NEVER happen again. You’re here a-and I’m here and… w-we’re all saf’-.” 

With that Clint’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and the last thing he heard before he embraced the darkness was a terrified cry of; “DADDY!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it. 
> 
> Hopefully another update for this and Inner Peace will come soon. 
> 
> As always my lovelies, Comments, Subscriptions and Kudos' would be lovely if deserved x

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos would be lovely if deserved ;) xx


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